The Tampa Bay Times reports today that “a Teaneck, N.J. shoemaker has joined with a California technology company to create a shoe that uses GPS technology that records where a wearer walks- and can send alerts to caregivers if someone … wanders away and gets lost.”
In a San Franscio CBS TV news interview,”Ruth Gay, director of public policy and advocacy with the Alzheimer’s Association in Northern California and Nevada said wandering can have terrible consequences. “Wandering in fact is a very big safety issue. We do know that if people aren’t found within 24 hours, the risk of death goes up substantially. They don’t always know how to protect themselves from the elements or find a safe location,” she said.
The Shoes are available for purchase online at After purchase of the shoes there is a monthly charge (between 35 to 40 dollars) for location alerts. I think this is very cool, because with dementia patients long term memory is the last to go and those actions of long term habit are likely to continue. The act of putting on ones shoe may be an effect habitual tool that Geo-tags your loved one.