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NDP pushes ‘silver alert’ system to find lost seniors with dementia

The NDP is calling for a “silver alert” program that would help find missing and disoriented seniors as the number of people with Alzheimer’s disease continues to rise.
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Coquitlam-Mallairdville MLA Selina Robinson introduced a Silver Alert Act in the legislature Tuesday and asked both sides of the legislature for their support.

The NDP is calling for a “silver alert” program that would help find missing and disoriented seniors as the number of people with Alzheimer’s disease continues to rise.

Modeled after Amber Alerts for abducted children, silver alerts would notify the public about the disappearance of someone with a cognitive impairment.

Coquitlam-Mallairdville MLA Selina Robinson introduced a Silver Alert Act in the legislature Tuesday and asked both sides of the legislature for their support.

She took up the cause following the disappearance of 64-year-old Shin Noh from Coquitlam last September. The retired pastor, who has Alzheimer’s disease, went for a walk and has never been found.

“What struck me was that if there had been a silver alert protocol — some sort of message that went out early when Mr. Noh went missing — then we might have been successful,” Robinson said.

Sam Noh said his father was spotted in several places shortly after he went missing, but it took two or three days for media outlets to pick up the story of his disappearance.

“Time is of the essence in finding someone who wanders,” he said. “So we’re definitely in support of this, because we also want to save other families the grief and anguish of going through this.”

Robinson said more than 32 jurisdictions in the United States have or are planning silver alert programs that rely on media outlets to broadcast and publish information about the missing person.

“Passing this bill would help the 170,000 people we are expecting to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in the next 20 years, most of whom will be cared for at home,” she said.

The number of Canadians with dementia is expected to increase from 480,600 in 2008 to 1.1 million in 2038, according to the Alzheimer Society of Canada. About 70,000 British Columbians are living with dementia.

Alzheimer’s disease causes memory loss and sufferers can become disoriented.

“Wandering is one of the many symptoms of Alzheimer’s, and it can be fatal,” Robinson said. “If they are not found within 24 hours, there’s nearly a 50 per cent risk of serious injury or death.”

Health Minister Terry Lake said the B.C. government is reviewing how the silver alert program works in other jurisdictions and whether it would be worthwhile introducing one here.

“Whatever we do, we don’t want to take anything away from the Amber Alert system,” he said.

“And there is a concern that if you have another system in place that you lose the sensitivity of the public to these kinds of alerts.”

Robinson acknowledged that concern, but her act proposes that silver alerts would only be activated in specific circumstances.

“A silver alert program will help educate and inform the public about Alzheimer’s and dementia and the risks of wandering behaviour,” she said.

“We all know it takes a village to raise a child, but it takes a community to care for our most vulnerable citizens.”

lkines@timescolonist.com