The publisher of a Greater Victoria web portal for seniors is calling on the provincial government to set up a “Silver Alert” system in B.C., to keep at-risk seniors safe in the event that they go missing.
Brian Kieran, the publisher of the Betterthan50 portal, says that with Alzheimer’s and dementia rates increasing in the province, a properly organized and comprehensive program to identify the public about missing seniors is needed.
“It’s been percolating for some years now,” says Kieran of a Silver Alert system. He says that the provincial government considered the idea four years ago, when Coquitlam retiree Shin Noh, aged 64, left home for his daily walk and never returned. “The incident got a lot of media attention,” says Kieran (Noh has never been found). “I think there was concern from the Ministry of Health about privacy issues.
“And there were cost issues. There would be quite a lot more activity than there is with Amber Alerts [employed when a child goes missing]. A lot more seniors wander off, so the costs would be higher.”
He says, however, that while Amber Alerts go out province-wide—usually because it is feared a child has been abducted—Silver Alerts would be more localized. “A properly administered system would alert the RCMP and local media that a senior has gone missing.”
Kieran notes that the senior demographic is growing very quickly in B.C., and that while there are local grassroots efforts to address the issue, a cohesive plan is needed to pull everything together.
Amber Alerts are relatively infrequent, so have a large impact when they are put in place. Kieran admits that while there would be more Silver Alerts, he does not think they would merely become “white noise” that people tuned out. “I think this would be welcomed in communities. And there would be peaks throughout the year when they were more critical, like in winter weather when people are more vulnerable to the cold.”
At least one jurisdiction in the province—Arrowsmith—has a GPS tracking system available for those who want to use it, but the cost is prohibitive for many: $300 for the device and $25 per month in monitoring fees. Kieran suggests that a province-wide monitoring program would drive costs down.
“We’re in the early stages of looking at this. If the province could be the purchasing agent then the cost could be, say, $20 for a wristband. And it would be a measure of safety for people worried about their moms and dads.”
B.C. Seniors Advocate Isobel Mackenzie says that while the Silver Alert proposal is well-meaning, she feels that recent changes to the legislation surrounding missing persons—which has made it easier for adults to immediately be identified as missing and in need of help—has made it easier when seniors wander off or go missing.
“The missing persons process we have in place now appears to be working. People are found in a timely manner.” She raises concerns about people becoming oblivious to Silver Alerts—“Amber Alerts are infrequent, which gives them impact”—and asks what would happen if an adult who is not a senior wandered off or went missing. “When do you issue an alert?”
More than half-a-million Canadians are currently living with dementia, and that figure is expected to reach close to one million in the next 15 years. More than 60 per cent of adults with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia will wander.
To read more about the proposal, visit www.betterthan50.com.