GPS brings hope for Alzheimer's

Advocacy groups see tracking system as wave of the future

BY RYAN CLARK | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER, Cincinnati, OH

It all started as she watched her mother try to care for her grandmother, who suffered from dementia.

She could see how difficult it was and the strain it caused.

Someday, she decided, she would help those people who cannot care for their elderly relatives.


Chris Heimbrock Hiltz is a nurse who in 1989 created FamilyWatch, a company of about 25 employees that helps family members when they need someone to care for an elderly or sick relative.

"If a relative has to go to work, or just needs help caring for someone, we can be there," said Hiltz, 53. "We can give that person a bath, or give them medicine, or take them to a doctor's appointment."

Hiltz runs the business with her husband, Dan, and together they are trying to do even more to help patients who suffer from Alzheimer's. As incidences of Alzheimer's patients wandering away from home increase, Hiltz thinks she may have a solution.

Through FamilyWatch, Hiltz is selling Sprint mobile phones with global positioning system, or GPS, technology.

If a patient becomes lost, Internet tracking can locate the patient - anywhere in the world.

"I've tested it, walking around the Highlands Cemetery in Fort Mitchell, and my husband can watch and see exactly where I've been," Hiltz said. "It's pretty amazing that way."

Through FamilyWatch, the phones are rented for $39.95 per month, with a $100 deposit.

"We researched the idea for about a year," Hiltz said. "We saw a lot of possibilities, but this one looked to be the best."

In June, 65-year-old Leroy Edward Six, of Alexandria, disappeared from his home. Later in the day, he was found taking shelter from rain under the steps of a church in Silver Grove.

Not all walkaways have happy endings.

In December, 75-year-old Robert Smith, of Hamilton, was missing for five days. Smith was found dead in an overgrown lot three blocks from his home.

A few others have come up with ideas to solve this problem.

In Butler County, sheriff's deputies are working with a Virginia-based program called Project Lifesaver International, which uses a smaller version of an animal-tracking device.

The $300 tracking system looks like a wrist watch and uses radio frequencies to track people for up to eight miles.

The Alzheimer's Association of Greater Cincinnati advocates using metal wristbands to indicate an individual who has Alzheimer's.

Officials with the group said about 60 percent of people with dementia wander at some time during their illness, but most don't go farther than a mile.

"Much of it can happen at night," Hiltz said. "It's called Sundowner's Syndrome."

Steve Olding, communications director for the Alzheimer's Association of Greater Cincinnati, said that while radio frequencies and identity tags are useful, the hope for the future is GPS technology.

"I think that's the direction the association will go," Olding said. "Seeing how it can help, it's the wave of the future. I'd hate to give a definite timetable, but I would hope it could be implemented within the next two years. And it could be sooner."

It has its drawbacks.

"The main problem is how we can get the individual to keep the phone on them at all times," said Hiltz, who has not found anyone yet who wants to take a chance on buying the service, though she does have a few interested customers. "We may have to implement a fanny pack or something like that."

Olding said they have faced the same problem with wristbands, necklaces and anklets.

Still, it would be hard for anyone to pass up the peace of mind of knowing a loved one could be found at the click of a button.

"We think it could solve a lot of problems," Hiltz said.