Ethics of electronic tagging of dementia patients

ABSTRACT

Dementia is one of the most common neuropsychiatric disorders seen in old age with accompanying memory loss, aggressive behaviour, sleep problems and wandering behaviour with confusion. Many patients with dementia may be all alone at home with a domestic help and no family caregiver for most of the day and may sometimes wander off from their homes. Hence, dementia care programmes insist that an identity card with the patient’s key details be worn, in case the patient wanders away and is unable to return home or inform people about the location of their home.