GPS tracker

[FiveFoxes]

My Mum has Alzheimer's, but still lives at home alone. She likes to go out for a daily walk up the road and back. At the moment it is a deliberate plan and go for a walk kind of walk and she is happy to wait and go for a walk with me. However, days I can't go for a walk with her she goes out by herself and won't be persuaded otherwise, even though the other week she went down a side road and couldn't remember her way home.

Is there a GPS tracker she could use that could be attached, with her knowledge, to her coat or shoes so that if she does leave her house and garden, it alerts me on my mobile and shows me her location. This will help me to know if she has got lost and help find her.

She doesn't have a mobile phone and won't have one so I can't use that, unfortunately!

There are loads of AirTag-like trackers on Amazon.
the problem with these trackers is that they only work if they are near iPhones, so there can be quite a lag updating their location.

Thank you. Air Tag (or Android equivalent!) I don't think will work will they? I need to be able to find her if she goes missing so I won't know where she is to be near enough to find her. I think Tile said 350ft. I think they're all Bluetooth and I need a GPS one?

Does she walk in a built up area? If so an AirTag might be ok as other people are likely to have devices for it to bounce off.

Otherwise no suggestions. (I had AirTags in handbag, coat, door keys and walking frame basket latterly. It was incredibly reassuring.

It is a built up area.

Please can you explain what you mean about bounce off other people's devices? I haven't used AirTags etc and not sure how they work! I thought it would just be finding location if nearby on my phone. I assume you mean people who have devices how she doesn't know?

You can get them from Adult Social Care for free (in my County Council) but they will need to do an MCA as it is restricting her freedom

Thank you, but sadly nothing for free from my council as I checked 😞

I'm in Ireland and use a Tile on my dad's keys in the UK. It will show what street he's on and works off other people's phones. He doesn't have a smart phone or any internet whatsoever.

Ah! This is interesting! So if I bought a Moto Tag to put in her pocket, I would be able to see her location if I was 10 miles away?

AirTags and the like use the Bluetooth/GPS signal from other people’s phones, ‘bouncing’ off them. So if no one is near you that carries a mobile phone (and someone told me it just works with iPhones, but that might not be true), the AirTag won’t work. Chances are that if she lives and walks in a built-up area, it will work without a problem.
I got one from Amazon for £8 to track DD when she started going to school on her own.

Oh wow. That's amazing! Thank you so much!
(I feel a bit silly now for not knowing this!)