Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the launch of a statewide alert system, the Golden Alert, to assist with locating vulnerable adults who become lost. The new system, similar to Amber Alert, would help find individuals, such as those suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or related dementia, who have wandered away from home. “The Missing Adults Alert system will help law enforcement find elderly and impaired New Yorkers who become lost and get them home safely,” said Governor Cuomo in a statement announcing the program’s implementation. “This system has saved lives regarding missing children, and now it will provide the same assistance when it comes to finding vulnerable adults.”
New York is the 29th state to offer such a program. Usually called Silver Alert, these state programs help protect the more than five million Americans with Alzheimer’s disease. 60% of those with Alzheimer’s disease will wander at least once during the progression of the disease, and 70% of these individuals will wander repeatedly. In a study of individuals with Alzheimer’s who became lost, nearly half (46%) of those not found within 24 hours died, usually from dehydration, exposure, or injury. These troubling statistics, along with the fact that the number of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease is likely to increase significantly as the baby boomers age, caused many states to enact Silver Alert legislation in recent years.
Initial analysis of these silver alert programs finds that they are successful. Texas, for example, employed its Silver Alert system 52 times in the first year of use. 48 of these missing seniors were located safely with 13 of these individuals found directly because of the Silver Alert. In the first three years of Georgia’s Silver Alert program, 70 of the 71 calls issued resulted in a safe return. However, instances where seniors wander off and are found in other states cause many to push for a national system that could build on individual states’ successes. Have you had any experience with a Silver Alert program? Do you think they have been successful, and do you support the development of a national Silver Alert law?
