Pottsville students design innovative tracker to assist caregivers of dementia patients

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KATV) — Students in the Pottsville Junior High School EAST Program are using their skills to make a difference in their community by helping caregivers with loved ones who have dementia or Alzheimer’s.

Josie Holland, Natalia Gullett, and Loralai Hodge developed what they call a tracker that is designed to make it easier to find those with Alzheimer’s who might go missing.

Holland said the idea was sparked by the amount of silver alerts popping up.

“Weren’t really being easily found by their caregivers and it started taking a hard time so we brainstormed a way so they could easily find their patients better,” said Holland.

After two months of development, the tracker was created.

It comes with a designated number and the caregiver will fill out their loved one’s information. When the code is scanned, the person who finds them is prompted to give a name and number.

“It takes you to the google form,” said Holland. “You fill out the questions like where is the location that you found them at, what is the number for them to contact you, and what is the number that the tag they found it.”

That information is then sent straight to Tiffany Horton, community education coordinator for Signet Health at the Dardanelle Regional Medical Center. Horton also facilitates two dementia caregiver support groups in both Yell and Pope Counties.

She gives the person who has found them a call immediately.

“We have admitted people that have been found several counties away, crying, they have run out of gas, lost on a way back in the middle of nowhere road,” said Horton. “It happens more than what people would think. We can come and meet them and get the police there to try and help them and get them back to their family.”

Horton said being a caregiver for a loved one is a huge responsibility and this might take a bit of the worry off their plate.

“The guilt that comes from that because you are responsible for them and what you should have done differently,” said Horton. “It really is a race against time to find them before anything happens. These kids that come up with this, they have absolutely amazed me because they saw a need and they filled that need.”

The students who created these trackers said they were grateful to create something that would help out their community and they plan to educate local law enforcement on how to use them as well.

Gullett said getting to create something that will also help her community was a great feeling.

“It felt really good,” said Gullett. “I like to help people out. It felt amazing.”

Holland and Hodge said they plan to present this idea at the state EAST conference where they are able to view other schools’ projects.

“I presented there last year, and it is really fun and a great opportunity to go to. You can ask them to present their project to you and it can give you ideas for the next year to use.”

For more information on the trackers or how to obtain one, contact Tiffany Horton at 501-730-1610 or email at [email protected].