This one is a practical one that might help someone else. We kicked ourselves for not thinking of it as it’s pretty bloomin’ obvious, but it took my father-in-law (thanks Pops!) to suggest it.

Pops had seen ID bracelets for people with QR codes that could be scanned so that their details could be accessed and the wearer helped appropriately.

Mum and Dad live in what I suspect might be the last village in the UK to have no internet reception outside of houses with wifi, so a QR code wouldn’t work too close to home.  But a standard ID bracelet would.

Mum stopped going for regular walks last year, but has made an escape attempt a couple of times recently.  She did remember how to get to her neighbours house, who returned her (it’s not a standard house next door situation) but there will be a time that she can’t remember which way to walk to get to the gate and up the drive. Dad can’t follow her because of his breathing.  So we needed a ‘if found please return this bear’ type of solution.

I thought it also might be easier for Dad (and Royal Mail) if he also had something similar rather than the yellow card he’s been carrying when he goes out.

So I looked up ID bracelets and found this site. There are many, many options though (although weirdly many are based in the US or Canada).

I bought this one for Mum that looked and felt like her watch (that she can’t read but likes to wear) and this one for Dad as his would be needed if he had an medical emergency and I figured it would be easy to spot.

We had big challenges resizing them although – like the initial idea – it was pretty obvious once you got the hang of it.

Mum’s was really hard to do up and undo, which was great as I wanted her to be wearing it 24 hours a day.  Obviously the one person who finds it incredibly easy to undo is…Mum 🤦🏼‍♀️. But I guess wearing it half the time is better than none of the time.

Both bracelets have their name, Dementia / COPD and mine, Sister 1 ad Sister 2’s phone numbers as ICE (In Case of Emergency) contacts.

They are both quite proud: