Safe Return: A Community-Based Initiative between Police Officers and the Alzheimer’s Association to Increase the Safety of People with Alzheimer’s Disease
Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online July, 2000
Safe Return: A Community-Based Initiative between Police Officers and the Alzheimer’s Association to Increase the Safety of People with Alzheimer’s Disease
A partnership initiated by an Alzheimer’s Association (AA) chapter and police departments in 11 New Jersey counties sought to increase enrollment of people with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in a national registration program and expand community AD outreach efforts by training police officers about potentially dangerous wandering behavior in people with the disease. During the first 4 months of the program, almost 3,000 police officers learned how to reduce dangerous wandering behavior in people with AD, to make referrals to the national registration program, and to conduct Alzheimer outreach programs in their communities. Police-sponsored AD community outreach programs increased dramatically, as did enrollment in the national registration program. The authors provide a rationale for health education partnerships with police officers, describe the role of theory in the design, implementation, and evaluation of the officer training program, discuss the initiative and its impact, and offer recommendations for future programs and related research.
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