FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 10, 2019
Ontario Helping to Keep Seniors with Dementia in Brantford-Brant-Six Nations Safe
BRANTFORD — Ontario is helping families, caregivers and communities recognize the risks of dementia, be prepared for incidents, and better ensure that seniors can live safely in Brantford-Brant-Six Nations.
Each year, approximately 125,000 seniors in Ontario living with dementia are at risk of wandering and going missing. The province is putting their safety first by providing nearly $600,000 to the Alzheimer Society of Ontario to deliver the Finding Your Way program.
“This funding will go a long way in helping to keep seniors living in Brantford-Brant-Six Nations safe, especially given an estimated 240,000 seniors in Ontario are living with dementia,” said Raymond Cho, Minister for Seniors and Accessibility. “This is another example of how our government is putting seniors and their families first by making it easier to find our missing loved ones faster.”
Finding Your Way is a multicultural wandering prevention program which provides practical tools and advice for individuals, caregivers and the community to recognize and reduce the risk of someone with dementia wandering and going missing, while supporting a quick, safe return should an incident occur.
This new funding will help to locate missing seniors living with dementia by working with police to promote Finding Your Way program resources in their communities, and by delivering seminars for individuals, caregivers and frontline officers that educate and promote awareness.
“Every minute counts when a senior goes missing to help keep them safe. Our government is committed to helping seniors with dementia stay safe in our entire region” said Will Bouma, Member of Provincial Parliament for Brantford-Brant. “We are protecting what matters most to help seniors live independently in their communities.”
“We are grateful for the investment from the Government of Ontario, which will provide vital support to persons living with dementia and peace of mind for their families,” said Mary Burnett, CEO Alzheimer Society of Brant, Haldimand Norfolk, Hamilton Halton. “Programs like Finding Your Way are an important part of the spectrum of services that are necessary to ensure that persons living with dementia can live well as vital and integral members of their community.”
QUICK FACTS
- About sixty per cent of people living with dementia will go missing at some point, often without warning.
- Fifty per cent of people who go missing for 24 hours risk serious injury or death from exposure, hypothermia or drowning.
- Nearly 7,500 people were reported missing in Ontario in 2018.
For more information please call (519) 759-0361 or will.bouma@pc.ola.org
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