IA2: The Wandering Toolkit

Transcript

• 00:13Hello. Thank you for joining
• 00:14me today. My name is
• 00:15Megan Dicken. I am an
• 00:17enrolled member of the United
• 00:18Home and Nation of Louisiana
• 00:21and serve as a Tribal
• 00:22Public Health and Aging Senior
• 00:23Associate at the International Association
• 00:26for Indigenous Aging,
• 00:28also known as IA2.
• 00:30Today, I'll be sharing a
• 00:31resource called Creating a Travel
• 00:33Safety Net to Address Wandering
• 00:35Persons, or as we often
• 00:36refer to it simply as
• 00:38the Wandering Toolkit.
• 00:39A little bit about IA2.
• 00:42We help people and organizations
• 00:44learn how to better reach
• 00:45and support Native American elders.
• 00:47We collaborate with people from
• 00:49all sectors and multiple professions,
• 00:51bringing their experience and expertise
• 00:53together to tailor programs and
• 00:54materials to serve American Indian
• 00:57Alaska Native, or AIAN,
• 00:59populations.
• 01:01Elders are at the center
• 01:02of our initiatives and projects
• 01:04with their health and well-being
• 01:05as our ultimate goal.
• 01:07We work on both Healthy
• 01:09BRAIN and Elder Justice initiatives.
• 01:11This wandering project fits between
• 01:13both.
• 01:14Why did we develop this
• 01:15toolkit?
• 01:16The rapidly aging general population
• 01:18is expected to nearly double
• 01:20by the year two thousand
• 01:21and sixty.
• 01:22The number of American IndiansAlaska
• 01:24Natives ages sixty five and
• 01:25older is projected to more
• 01:27than triple
• 01:28to one million six hundred
• 01:29and twenty four thousand in
• 01:30the year two thousand and
• 01:31fifty.
• 01:32This is a graph of
• 01:33people aged fifty and up
• 01:34showing the American IndianAlaska Native
• 01:36population
• 01:37in the darker blue color
• 01:39compared to the general population
• 01:40in the lighter blue. We
• 01:41can see that the AIAN
• 01:43population is greater. With a
• 01:44rapidly aging population, we can
• 01:46expect
• 01:48increased rates of Alzheimer's disease
• 01:50and related dementia,
• 01:51or ADRD.
• 01:53The Alzheimer's Association projects that
• 01:55the rate of ADRD in
• 01:56the U. S. Will more
• 01:57than double by the year
• 01:59two thousand and sixty.
• 02:00With an increase in ADRD,
• 02:01we can also expect to
• 02:03see an increase in wandering
• 02:04incidence,
• 02:05because sixty percent of persons
• 02:06with dementia
• 02:07will wander at least once.
• 02:10There is no mandatory reporting
• 02:11on missing persons with ADRD,
• 02:13so that means that millions
• 02:14of wandering incidents actually occur
• 02:16and we can expect to
• 02:17see more.
• 02:19This will become even more
• 02:20problematic in Indigenous populations
• 02:23because of our unique challenges.
• 02:25Due to a variety of
• 02:26factors that have impacted our
• 02:28cultures,
• 02:29Native Americans experience higher rates
• 02:31of chronic health problems
• 02:33that are risk factors for
• 02:34dementia,
• 02:36such as diabetes,
• 02:37hypertension,
• 02:38and obesity.
• 02:40Second,
• 02:41AIAN people have higher rates
• 02:42of mild cognitive impairment
• 02:45and dementia,
• 02:46as shown in this graph.
• 02:47American Indians are in the
• 02:48dark red as compared to
• 02:50non Hispanic whites, African Americans,
• 02:53and Hispanics.
• 02:54Third, we must take into
• 02:56account our unique experiences with
• 02:57trauma.
• 02:58Eighty percent of AIAN adults
• 03:01experience violence in their lifetime.
• 03:03There is also the missing
• 03:04and murdered Indigenous peoples, or
• 03:07MMIP,
• 03:08crisis
• 03:08affecting American Indian communities.
• 03:12We must also recognize historical
• 03:14trauma.
• 03:15These factors may trigger a
• 03:16wandering response, a person's motivation
• 03:18to wander, where a person
• 03:20may wander, and how they
• 03:21respond when they are found.
• 03:23In response, IA2
• 03:25identified a need to create
• 03:27a culturally tailored toolkit
• 03:29to help Indigenous communities address
• 03:31wandering due to ADRD.
• 03:34The goals of this toolkit
• 03:36are
• 03:37to enhance the safety and
• 03:38well-being of elders in AIAN
• 03:40communities who may wander,
• 03:42equip people with tools to
• 03:44prevent and respond to wandering
• 03:45incidents,
• 03:46A community response in collaboration
• 03:48with local law enforcement allows
• 03:50speed in locating the elder.
• 03:52This is especially important in
• 03:53communities that may not have
• 03:54enough law enforcement officers to
• 03:56be able to respond to
• 03:57wandering incidents quickly.
• 03:59Time is of the essence.
• 04:01Survival rates for wandering elders
• 04:03decrease dramatically after twenty four
• 04:05hours. In fact, there is
• 04:06only a fifty percent chance
• 04:08of survival
• 04:09of a missing person with
• 04:10dementia
• 04:11that is not found within
• 04:12twenty four hours.
• 04:14Many Indigenous communities are in
• 04:16remote areas with harsh terrains,
• 04:18which can also influence survival
• 04:20rates.
• 04:21This toolkit supports tribal sovereignty
• 04:24by providing a customizable resource
• 04:26that communities can use and
• 04:28adapt to their own needs.
• 04:30If a community you serve
• 04:31is interested in building a
• 04:33community response and you are
• 04:34interested in being a part
• 04:35of that, this toolkit may
• 04:37be of use. If any
• 04:38questions come up about using
• 04:40it, please contact us because
• 04:42we offer technical
• 04:44The toolkit is broken down
• 04:46into three main components.
• 04:48The first is an educational
• 04:49section to help the user
• 04:51understand dementia and wandering with
• 04:53tips about preventing wandering.
• 04:56Next is the actions section,
• 04:58a workbook with a checklist
• 05:00and worksheets which guide the
• 05:02user step by step
• 05:03through creating a community response
• 05:05plan in collaboration
• 05:08with local agencies having jurisdiction
• 05:12However, it is important to
• 05:14know the tribal code with
• 05:15regard to addressing issues concerning
• 05:17elders.
• 05:19Then, it walks you through
• 05:20assessing the community, the people,
• 05:23the terrain,
• 05:24establishing communication methods,
• 05:26and a phone tree.
• 05:27There is a template for
• 05:29a missing persons flyer and
• 05:30a detailed elder profile.
• 05:33There is also guidance on
• 05:34conducting a mock search or
• 05:36tabletop exercise,
• 05:37offering different scenarios so you
• 05:39can practice your plan before
• 05:41an incident occurs.
• 05:43Finally, there is a debrief
• 05:45analysis section
• 05:46to help you look back
• 05:47at the mock search or
• 05:48tabletop exercise to see what
• 05:50worked, what didn't, and what
• 05:51could be done differently.
• 05:53The toolkit is customizable for
• 05:55each community and encourages use
• 05:57of utilizing local traditional knowledge,
• 06:00tracking methods, etcetera.
• 06:02A nice feature that we've
• 06:03added at the very end
• 06:04is the quick reference guide.
• 06:07So the toolkit is a
• 06:08fillable PDF.
• 06:10When the user goes through
• 06:11the workbook step by step
• 06:12and fills in the worksheets
• 06:14on a computer,
• 06:15the worksheets will auto populate
• 06:17at the end altogether.
• 06:19This way, the most important
• 06:21information in the Community Response
• 06:23Plan is in one place,
• 06:25making it easier to print
• 06:26if needed,
• 06:27and not have to search
• 06:28through the whole toolkit for
• 06:29it.
• 06:30Funding
• 06:31for this project comes from
• 06:32a grant from the Department
• 06:34of Justice, Bureau of Justice
• 06:35Assistance,
• 06:36Kevin and Avante program.
• 06:38Kevin and Avante's law was
• 06:40passed in twenty eighteen in
• 06:41honor of two young boys
• 06:42with autism who tragically drowned
• 06:44after wandering away from safety.
• 06:46It allows the BJA to
• 06:48support local groups such as
• 06:49health care, law enforcement, public
• 06:50safety, and non profits,
• 06:52prevent and reduce the number
• 06:54of injuries and deaths in
• 06:55those who wander from safe
• 06:56environments due to dementia or
• 06:58developmental disabilities.
• 07:00The Autism Society of America,
• 07:02in collaboration with the International
• 07:04Association of Chiefs of Police
• 07:06and the ARC's National Center
• 07:07on Criminal Justice and Disability,
• 07:09provides training and technical assistance
• 07:11to the sites that receive
• 07:12funding through the Kevin and
• 07:13Avante grant program. This project
• 07:15is very meaningful to our
• 07:16organization because our co founder,
• 07:18Dave Baldridge,
• 07:21who is a member of
• 07:22the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma.
• 07:24Dave is an accomplished leader
• 07:25and advocate for older American
• 07:27Indians. He was involved in
• 07:28search and rescue as a
• 07:29canine handler for Sandia Search
• 07:31Dogs, assisting with search and
• 07:33rescue missions in Central New
• 07:34Mexico.
• 07:35Dave is currently living with
• 07:36a form of dementia called
• 07:37progressive supranuclear
• 07:39palsy, which causes memory issues
• 07:41and problems with movement.
• 07:43Dave is open about sharing
• 07:44this and has written articles
• 07:45about it. We also collaborated
• 07:47with tribal law enforcement and
• 07:48other search and rescue experts
• 07:49to complement Dave's knowledge and
• 07:51expertise.
• 07:52You can find this and
• 07:53other resources on our website
• 07:54and contact me at megan
• 07:56at I squared with questions
• 07:58or comments.
• 07:59I hope you found this
• 08:00information helpful and will share
• 08:01it with others. Thank you.