Alzheimer's Initiatives

Alzheimer's Initiatives

IACP's Alzheimer’s Initiatives is committed to helping first responders improve their knowledge and skills to enhance their response to community members living with Alzheimer's Disease. 

An estimated 5.9 million Americans are currently living with Alzheimer’s disease. Of those, 3.3 million (60%) tend to wander away from safety. With projections showing that by the year 2050 as many as 16 million Americans will be living with Alzheimer's disease, the number of wandering individuals is expected to rise. In order to keep this population safe, first responders need to have the knowledge and tools at their disposal.

Resources

Pocket Card: 10 Signs & Steps: This pocket card provides basic warning signs that a driver may have Alzheimer’s and steps to respond.

Guide to Voluntary Registry Systems: This is a guide to local voluntary registry systems which enable agencies to have more awareness of vulnerable individuals in their communities. 

Identifying and Helping Drivers: This brochure includes helpful tips for identifying and helping drivers with Alzheimer’s.

MedicAlert Access: This informational flyer provides information on MedicAlert services to assist law enforcement searching for lost individuals.

ID & Evaluate the At-Risk Older Adult: This pocket card contains assessment questions to identify and evaluate at risk adults.

Evaluative Questions to Ask Caregivers: This pocket card lists important questions to ask caregivers when beginning a search for at risk adults.

IACP Model Policy: These documents provide guidance for the response and investigation of missing persons with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (AD/D).

Training Key: This Training Key discusses the recommended response to missing individuals with AD/D.

Post Card: Alzheimer's - Do's and Don'ts: This pocket card provides helpful do’s and don’ts for interacting with individuals with Alzheimer’s.

Post Card: Alzheimer's - Senior Drivers: This pocket card provides easy reference tips to identifying and interacting with individuals with Alzheimer’s.

Roll-Call Training Videos

Roll-Call Training Videos

The IACP’s Alzheimer’s Initiatives training program has developed four short training videos that discuss various situations law enforcement and first responders may encounter a person with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia.

Download the Companion Discussion Guide.

Available Videos

  • Driver Assessment (traffic stop) – Learn to recognize signs of impaired driving due to Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. (5:35) (Dennis, MA)
  • Missing Person (on foot) – Techniques for interviewing caregivers and search and rescue when someone with dementia goes missing on foot. (6:22) (Montgomery County, MD)
  • Missing Person (by car) – Techniques for interviewing caregivers and search and rescue when someone with dementia goes missing by car. (7:24) (Vail, CO)
  • Overview of Search Protocol – Extensive overview of search protocol for someone with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. (8:48) (Houston, TX)

Follow the below steps to gain access to the videos:

  • Go to https://learn.theiacp.org
    • Click log-in on the left hand side (blue box)
    • Create an account
    • On the left-hand side, below the three grey boxes (All Categories, All Types, 3 Selected) type Alzheimer’s into the search bar. Click Find
    • Click on the “Alzheimer’s Initiatives Program Roll-Call Training Videos”
    • Click yellow “Register (Free!)” button on upper right side
    • Click Register and enter information.
    • Click View Cart
    • Click Submit
    • Click the link that takes you back to the videos page and now you can watch them

The videos will continue to be available to you in your Dashboard!

Webinars

Responding to Alzheimer’s Disease: The 3 stages of Alzheimer’s Disease – from the perspective of trainer Deborah Thompson (8:56) (Dennis, MA)

Responding to Alzheimer’s Disease: Situations in which Law Enforcement/First Responders Might Encounter People With Alzheimer’s Disease – from the perspective of trainer Tim Sutton (24:40) (Richmond, VA)

Contact Information

For more information, please contact us at homesafe@theiacp.org

This project is supported by Cooperative Agreement No. 2019-NT-BX-K002 awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions contained herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. References to specific agencies, companies, products, or services should not be considered an endorsement by the author(s) or the U.S. Department of Justice. Rather, the references are illustrations to supplement discussion of the issues.

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