Caregivers can broadcast missing loved ones with dementia to wider network
Dementia Singapore partners with the Municipal Service Office.
Example of a missing person notification via the OneService app.
Support for families will now be further strengthened with an additional notification platform when their loved ones with dementia go missing. This support, which comes from a strategic partnership between Dementia Singapore and the Municipal Services Office (MSO), was launched recently. The partnership will see the two organisations’ mobile applications – Dementia Singapore’s CARA and MSO’s OneService – collaborating to help widen the network to support our dementia community in Singapore.
The OneService app will broadcast reports of missing persons with dementia from Dementia Singapore’s CARA SG app to a wider community network, and increase the chances of a quicker reunion with their families.
The partnership will see the OneService app complement the ‘Safe Return’ and ‘Report Missing Person’ features of the CARA SG app. This also serves to widen the dementia-friendly community in Singapore, where one in 10 seniors who are aged 60 and above have dementia.
The missing persons’ alerts complement the ‘Help Neighbour’ feature of the OneService app. ‘Help Neighbour’ provides a one-stop platform which residents can use to alert social service agencies to persons who may be in need.
In the event a loved one with dementia goes missing, caregivers can now make a report via the CARA app using the newly launched ‘Report Missing Person’ feature. When a Missing Person Report is made, all CARA members will receive a push notification, and they will be able to view the Report and keep a lookout for the missing person.
For each Missing Person Report submitted via the CARA app, the same information will be broadcasted via a push notification to OneService users who reside within the town of the lost person’s last seen location. The notification contains photos and details of the missing person, such as their physical traits and last seen location. Users are also notified when the missing person is found eventually.
Notification on the OneService app when missing person is found.
Since the feature’s soft launch in November 2022, CARA has helped to facilitate the safe return of seven missing persons with dementia. As of January 2023, CARA has over 4,000 app users, including persons living with dementia, caregivers, and members of the public.
The OneService app has started broadcasting CARA’s Missing Person notifications since February 6, 2023. This partnership will extend the reach of CARA’s notifications to more than 500,000 OneService app users.
Dementia Singapore CEO Jason Foo said: “In the past couple of years, there has been a rising phenomenon of missing elderly persons in Singapore, many of whom have dementia. The ‘Report Missing Person’ feature, together with this strategic partnership with MSO’s OneService app, will effectively help to address this growing concern for families by significantly expanding the reach of the Missing Person notifications.
“With a larger population reach, the probability is higher that a missing person with dementia will be found quicker.”
SIDEBOX: Useful guides
The best method is to hang a card around the aged senior for phone contact to the family, in case of loss.