Families & Carers of People ‘At Risk’

Why you need Safe Return Home

Many people living in the community, residential care settings and temporary accommodation have problems that leave them vulnerable as they go about their daily activities (Case Studies). Wandering and missing person problems are not restricted to one age group or even to a single disability or medical condition.

Given that the majority of ‘at risk’ individuals are mobile and involved in a broad range of activities it is important that services are available to help them enjoy their lives to the fullest while maintaining a high level of safety and care. The Safe Return Home system is such a service. Using the Safe Return Home system families and carers can make certain that the relevant details of people ‘at risk’ of wandering or becoming lost are recorded and readily available should a need arise.

In the unfortunate event of a missing person episode, all identification details can be provided to Police to assist with identification purposes. By undertaking this proactive step of setting up the person’s details on Safe Return Home, families and carers will not be faced with the difficulty of having to organise these details during the stressful time of an incident.

The Safe Return Home system also contains a public web site. If approved by the registrant or their carer, the details of the missing person will be listed on this website. This information can then be viewed by Transport Services (train; bus; tram; taxi) and other entities, such as Shopping Centre management and provided to news outlets such as television and radio stations.

What you receive from the Safe Return Home system

The Safe Return Home system provides many features to help support people ‘at risk’ and their families. The features include:

an up-to-date web application (database) that can help identify or locate a missing person.
a public web site enabling people in the community that are likely to come into contact with people who appear lost or disorientated to check to see if that person is listed as ‘missing or lost ’ by the Police. People likely to use this web site include public transport and taxi services as well as shopping centre management. Please note information on this site will only be made available with permission from the registered user.
option of purchasing an on-person identification Medical ID Product to provide additional security.
a private and secure internet database available 24-hours 7 days per week from any location for families and carers to store details of the ‘at risk’ person’s medical, care, and behavioural needs. If you wish to store details that could help with management of your important medical information, then Safe Return Home is also for you. It also provides for easy retrieval of this essential medical (doctor contact; medications; allergies; other special requirements), behavioural and care needs information from your own secure internet site. Registrants or carers can access this information via the Internet database and can print and mail, or distribute via fax or email to respite services, medical authorities or hospital staff if needed in an emergency.

Information Collected on the Safe Return Home System

Basic information available for all individuals on database:

Colour photograph
Detailed description of person
Contact details of carer and other listed contact persons

Depending on the carer’s wishes, further details may also be available including:
Medical conditions and diagnostic Information
Dementia diagnosis
Psychiatric diagnosis
Developmental disability
Critical medications that patient requires
Contact details of treating doctors
Activity of Daily Living Restrictions
Memory
Orientation
Outside Home Functioning
Relevant Life History
Previous Places of Residency
Home address during early adulthood
Previous Workplace Address
If missing, likely destination
Behavioural Information
Behaviours of concern
Carer suggested management approaches
Name to address person by
Suggested topics for discussion when find person

Case Studies

The Case Studies provided are examples of real life situations. The dilemmas and concerns faced by the carers and ‘at risk’ people in these and other case studies have been taken into consideration during the design phases of the ‘Safe Return Home’ system. A primary goal of the system is to significantly improve the outcome of cases like these and to reduce carer stress.