Alzheimer Security
It has been forecast that the rate of people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease in the United States will likely triple by the year 2050–from 5 million currently to over 13 million. This will have a significant impact on the healthcare industry, including a rapidly increasing need for skilled nursing facilities. Perimeter-based, RFID-enabled products are one of the most effective ways to ensure the safety and security of patients suffering from Alzheimer’s in senior living settings. Wander management systems give Alzheimer’s, dementia and other “at-risk” residents the ability to move freely about their facilities while maintaining a secure and protected environment. Using advanced RFID technology, these perimeter-based security alert wandering systems for the security of Alzheimer’s patients puts the staff caring for them at ease while enabling them to direct their energies toward other critical tasks.
Considerations for Choosing an Alzheimer’s Security System
There are many factors that facilities need to consider before they choose to install or upgrade their security systems to accommodate the security needs of residents suffering from Alzheimer’s: total cost of ownership, rate of false alarms, multiple system integration, industry standard and regulatory compliance, as well as customer support and service.
Installation costs, training time, upgradeability, replacement components and batteries, and comprehensive customer support all go into determining the total cost of ownership for an Alzheimer’s security system. Understanding how these different pieces affect your facility is key to choosing a security system to protect your Alzheimer’s residents that will meet your current needs without unnecessary disruption to your staff and allow you to expand and upgrade to meet changing needs in the future.
Any security system using RFID technology is subject to interference from other radio frequency technology. Mobile phones, lighting ballasts, floor buffers and other sources of general electromagnetic interference can hinder the function of RFID security systems within a facility and cause false alarms. This interrupts the important caregiving tasks of your staff and can lead to alarm fatigue and a harmful distrust of the system. It is critical to make sure that any RFID-enabled security system you choose to install in your facility utilizes technology that minimizes interference from other devices and has a low rate of false alarms.
A perimeter-based security system to prevent the wandering of residents with Alzheimer’s is one of many systems used in a long term care facility. As you choose the appropriate system to install in your facility, it is important to consider if and/or how easily it integrates with the other systems your staff relies on: nurse call, electronic access control (EAC), closed-circuit television (CCTV), fall detection, paging, etc.
Long term care facilities who care for residents suffering from Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia face many regulatory and insurance mandated protocol and equipment requirements. It is important to make sure that all security systems are compliant with NFPA, FCC, NEC, CA, ETL and JCAHO requirements.
Facilities run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year. Security systems to prevent the wandering of residents with Alzheimer’s must be functioning properly all the time. Therefore, it is critical to choose a system backed by a company that offers 24 hour technical support, warranties their products, and has local installation and service technicians available.
The Secure Choice for Your Facility
As the baby boom generation ages and the number of people suffering from Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia rapidly increases, the need for skilled nursing to care for this population will cause a tremendous growth in residential care facilities. All of these facilities will need RFID-enabled, perimeter-based, security systems to control wandering and elopement. It is important that facility administrators understand the range of influences that determine total cost of ownership and other factors as they choose what system to install.