If you work with residents affected by dementia or Alzheimer’s, please familiarise yourself with the safeguarding protocols below.
Herbert Protocol
People with dementia are at risk of going missing. The Herbert Protocol addresses this and is a form containing key information about a person living with dementia. This information includes, but is not limited to, medication that the person needs; places they have previously been found; historic addresses, and a recent photograph. The form can be completed by family, friends or carers of the person living with dementia.
Good practice should involve, where possible, a genuine engagement with the person to empower them to stay safe and identify anything that might increase their risk of going missing.
A completed Herbert Protocol form saves carers and loved ones the worry of trying to recall the information during the stressful time of someone going missing, and can be handed to the police at the time of a loved one being reported missing. It also saves time for the police, allowing the search and missing investigation to begin sooner.
Watch the video on the Police Scotland website to find out more about how the Herbert Protocol is being widely introduced across Scotland as a tool to help safety-plan and support people living with dementia, who are at risk of going missing.
Purple Alert app
Alzheimer’s Scotland has a free app to alert the public that someone with dementia is missing in their local community, or wider geographical area. The app has been designed with input from people living with dementia; their carers; Police Scotland; Social Work; Dementia Friends Scotland; Health and Social Care Partnerships; and Telecare Services. Missing People support the use of the app where appropriate, in order to help the search for a missing person with Dementia. Find out more on the Missing People webpage.
