Analysis of Silver Alert Reporting System Activations for Missing Adults With Dementia in Texas, 2017 to 2022
Valerie Danesh, PhD, RN, FCCM, research investigator at the Center for Applied Research discusses study regarding the impact of the Silver Alert system in Texas.
Summary - Older adults with Alzheimer disease and related dementias are at high risk of wandering, leading to harm, accidental death, and care partner stress. Community-aided immediate search activities are often successful at finding missing individuals with dementia. Silver Alert programs are community-level, police-activated notification systems consisting of informational broadcasts to locate missing adults with dementia. The Texas network of missing-person alerts includes broadcasts via media, lottery retailers, and state transportation and public safety departments to elicit tips to law enforcement. Highway sign activation is included when vehicle information is known. We analyzed Silver Alert activations in Texas to identify temporal, geographic, and wandering characteristics of missing adults with dementia.