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If you’ve got a relative with dementia, you will know how draining, time-consuming and scary it can be. Alzheimer’s (the most common form of dementia) is a degenerative brain disease to which we currently have no cure. Dementia has quite a slow onset compared to other diseases and gradually takes away a person’s thoughts, memories and general cognitive functions.

Whilst dementia patients can often take care of themselves for a while, they will almost always eventually have an episode where they become very confused. This may be hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly. When this does happen, they can become very frightened as they don’t know where they are. Conversely, they may enjoy themselves and believe they are meeting their friends for a day trip to the circus and the year is 1965. Either way, if they wander off, this is not good for you.

It is thought that approximately 60% of dementia patients will wander off during their lifetime. Often when this happens once, it also becomes a repeat behavior. This is the most dangerous thing about dementia. A vulnerable person will wander off and nobody knows why or where they have gone.

However, modern-day technology has made it easier for everyone involved. Whilst it is not a silver bullet to solve all of your problems. A dementia patient wearing a smartwatch is much easier to track and find than without.

Requirements Of Watches For Dementia Patients

You cannot stop an older relative from wandering off. You can however minimize the risk of them going too far away from their home or facility. In addition to this, you can speed up the time in which it takes you to find them. Even just 10-15 years ago this would not have been possible, but now it is.

GPS

This is pretty much the main reason for getting your elderly relative a digital or smartwatch. You must be able to track them. Whilst this is a little invasive to privacy, you know where they are meant to be anyway.

When your relative wanders away, you will instantly be able to track and find them. This mitigates the risk factors of them wandering somewhere such as a bad neighborhood or a freeway and allows you to go and pick them up immediately.

Simplicity Of Use

Ideally, as well as a tracker, the patient should be able to use the watch themselves. If they can use the watch to tell the time, they are more likely to wear it.

Even if the relative/patient doesn’t really know what year it is, they will at least get some comfort from knowing it’s 3:15 in the afternoon. Although this is quite an irrelevant piece of information, it will give them at least some peace of mind.

Battery Life

The longer the battery life the watch has the better. This is useful for both GPS tracking and general use. The longer the GPS lasts, the easier it will be to track your relative. Secondly, it is better if the watch lasts longer for everyday use. There is a greater chance of your relative removing the watch if it doesn’t really serve them any purpose.

Price

This is probably the least important factor, although we understand everyone has a budget. Generally, you will be paying anywhere from $100 – $150 for a smartwatch that allows you to track your relative. However, there are sometimes bargains to be had for less than $100 if you spend some time looking around.

Best Watches For Dementia Patients

Xplora X5

The Xplora X5 is designed to be a watch used for keeping children safe. With that being said, anyone with a relative who has Alzheimer’s knows that it is often like looking after a child. Yes, they will be able to take care of themselves, but from time to time they can completely zone out from reality and be in their own reality. This is when the GPS is truly needed.

Another great feature of this watch is the ability to make receive voice calls from pre-approved numbers. This removes the risk of unwarranted cold-callers and allows you to contact your relative if you urgently need to. Xplora works with a variety of US cell networks.

Lastly, whilst at home, the Xplora can be connected to wifi. This helps reduce cell phone bills if you were thinking that the GPS would eat up too much data.

Check The Price Of The Xplora X5 On Amazon

Garmin Forerunner 35

The Garmin Forerunner is designed to be a fitness watch specifically for running. It also offers other fitness-based apps such as heart rate monitoring and how fast you run. Obviously, these features are certainly not necessary for a dementia patient.

However, Garmin are world leaders in GPS technology so their tracking system is second to none. You can also set the watch so that it automatically uploads your GPS movements. This way you will be able to view where your relative has been wandering online. If there is a pattern, perhaps you will find them easier to manage after seeing this.

Check The Price Of The Garmin Forerunner 35 On Amazon

Fitbit Charge 4

The Fitbit Charge 4 is a slimline watch and comes in 3 different colors. This watch is ideal if your parent is not used to wearing a watch normally since it’s quite a bit smaller than a regular-sized watch.

Much like other fitness-based watches it has a GPS alongside a whole host of other apps that you will never use. Unfortunately watches for dementia patients are quite a small market compared to the entire fitness industry, which is why we have to recommend these watches. They aren’t purpose-built for what we want. They are however useful in tracking down your relative who has wandered off yet again.

Check The Price Of Fitbit Charge Watches On Amazon

Polar M430

The Polar M430 is available in 2 different colors (black & orange). This watch is very sturdy since the company Polar originally started out designing heart rate monitors for the Finnish military.

Like all other fitness watches, you can see the image above shows all the features you will not use such as workout time, heart rate and distance traveled. However, the once again useful GPS will help track down your relative when you most need it.

Check The Price Of Polar M430 Watches On Amazon

Amazfit Bip

The Amazfit is more or less the cheapest GPS watch on the market. If you’re looking for a budget way to track your parent with dementia. This is pretty much the cheapest way you can do it.

The battery life on this watch is really quite good considering its price and the fact it has a GPS. Of course, there are other features on the smartwatch since it was purposely built for fitness. However, in terms of being the cheapest watch for a dementia patient, this is the best pick.

Check The Price Of Amazfit Bip Watches On Amazon