Choosing a location device for a parent who leaves the house alone

Settle the consent question first

Tracking someone's location is not a neutral act, and getting this right at the start prevents a great deal of trouble later.

If your parent can take part in the decision, ask them. Frame it as what it is — a way of not having to phone round the neighbourhood — and let them choose the form factor. A device someone agreed to is worn. A device someone did not agree to comes off in the hall.

If your parent cannot take part in the decision, the question of what authority is needed before tracking their location is a legal one, and it varies. Ask an elder law attorney. It is a short appointment and it gives you a clear answer. Do not take this from a support group thread, however confidently it is stated.

If siblings disagree, settle it before the purchase, in writing, and record who agreed to what and when.

There is also a dignity question that no device answers. A tracker tells you where someone is. It does not tell you whether they are all right, and it is not a substitute for the conversation with the doctor about what is changing.

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The four kinds of device

GPS smartwatches. A watch with a cellular radio, a GPS chip and usually a button that places a call. Family sees location in an app. Battery is typically one to two days. They need charging, which is the failure point, and they are visible, which cuts both ways.

Small standalone GPS trackers. A fob or a card that goes in a pocket, a bag or on a keyring. Cheaper than a watch, longer battery on some models, no call button on most. Only works if the item it is attached to leaves with your parent.

Bluetooth tags. The cheap ones. They do not have GPS. They report a location when a phone belonging to that manufacturer's network passes nearby. In a city that can be often; on a rural road it can be never. Battery lasts a year. Understand the mechanism before you rely on it — this is not a tracker in the sense the other three are.

Phone location sharing. Free, already installed, no new hardware. It works only when the phone is charged and carried, which for many people it is not.

A fifth category exists at the edges: GPS insoles and shoe inserts, which solve the "leaves everything behind but wears shoes" problem. Check charging and comfort carefully.

The specifications that actually decide it

Battery life in days, under real use with location checks on. Ask for that figure, not the standby number. Then ask what happens at low battery — does anyone but the wearer get told?

Charging method. A magnetic dock is easier than a small plug. A watch that must be taken off nightly is a watch that is sometimes not put back on.

Subscription. Almost every cellular device has a monthly fee for the data. Get the figure and check whether it is billed annually. Ask which carrier, and check that carrier's coverage where your parent actually goes.

Location update frequency, and whether it can be increased when something is happening.

Geofence alerts. Can you set an area and be notified when the device leaves it? How many areas, and how quickly does the alert arrive?

Two-way voice. Some watches allow a call from the device. Ask whether the call list is restricted and who can edit it.

Removability. Some are designed to be difficult to take off. Whether that is appropriate for your parent is a question for their doctor or care team, not a product decision.

Water resistance. It has to survive handwashing at minimum.

Indoor accuracy. GPS is weak indoors and inside large buildings. Ask what the device falls back on.

The free things to arrange alongside it

A device is one layer. These cost nothing and are often more useful in the first hour.

- Ask your local police department or county sheriff about a voluntary registry. Many run a programme where you file a photograph, a description and contact details in advance. Ask what theirs requires and how to enrol.
- Prepare a one-page identification sheet now: a recent head-and-shoulders photograph, height, build, hair, glasses, what your parent usually wears, their full name, your phone number, the address, and any places they have a habit of going — a former home, a former workplace, a church, a shop. Keep it on your phone and printed in the hall.
- Write the neighbour list: names and numbers for the houses either side and opposite, and the local shop.
- Put identification on the person. A bracelet, a card in the coat pocket, a label sewn into a familiar jacket. Ask what your parent will accept.
- Agree the sequence in advance and write it on one card: who calls whom, in what order, who checks which streets, who stays at the house. Give a copy to every person named on it.

The identification sheet is the item to do today. It takes fifteen minutes and it is the thing you cannot assemble calmly when it is needed.

Questions to ask before you buy

Shortlist two or three devices from the comparison table on this page and ask each manufacturer or retailer the same list.

- What is the real battery life in days with location checks on?
- Is there a monthly subscription, how much, and is it billed annually?
- Which cellular carrier does it use?
- How many family members can see the location, and can they be different people at different times?
- How many geofence areas can be set, and how fast does the alert arrive?
- Can the wearer place a call from the device, and can the call list be restricted?
- What is the water rating?
- What happens indoors, in a shop or a large building?
- Is location history stored, for how long, and who can see it?
- What is the returns window if it does not get worn?
- What is your privacy policy on location data, and is it shared with anyone?

That last question deserves a proper answer. Location history is sensitive data about a person who may not have chosen to generate it, and a company that answers it clearly is telling you something about how they operate.

Confirm current subscription pricing on the provider's own site — this category changes its plans frequently.

The daily record that makes the pattern visible

A device tells you where. A written record tells the doctor when, and how often, and what was happening beforehand. The second one is what a professional can actually use.

Keep it to observation. Date, time, what was seen, what was said, how long, what happened before. Never what you think it means — that interpretation belongs to the doctor, and a log full of guesses is less useful than a log full of facts.

The same applies to everything else that is changing. Short, dated, factual entries, kept in one place, turn a series of worrying evenings into a record that a doctor's appointment can be built around. It is also the record that lets a second family member step in without a two-hour phone briefing.

Our Dementia Care Daily System is that record as printable pages: a daily routine sheet, an observation log built for what-was-seen-and-when, a shift handover page, a page for what to take to the next appointment, and the identification and contact sheets described above.

Every page is blank. It records; it does not interpret. What any of it means is a question for your parent's doctor.

Questions