Joe Skeens, who lives on the Suncoast, wasn’t expecting a knock on the door.
One morning, Skeens says, “I was taking a shower when all of a sudden, my neighbor knocked on my door and said, ‘Your wife is about a half block away walking down the road.'”
Things began to go wrong in a scary way after this. He noticed that his wife, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, started to get lost several times.
“That is scary to think about.” “I have learned a lot about that behavior, and it worries me a lot,” Skeens says.
Lawmakers in Florida want to calm some of those worries. A bill that Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law says that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement needs to set up an online training program to teach police how to best help people with dementia.
Erin McLeod, CEO of Senior Friendship Centers, says this is very important.
“This bill is very important for people who care for loved ones because they need to make sure their safety.” “That safety goes beyond their own homes and into the neighborhood,” McLeod says.
As part of the training, people will learn how to spot the behavioral signs of someone with dementia, how to talk to them clearly, and how to spot signs of abuse and exploitation.
There are police officers who are trained to spot some of the subtleties and signs of dementia and diseases linked to dementia. This gives family caregivers peace of mind, says McLeod.
Skeens would give anything to get that peace of mind back.
“Of course it makes me feel hopeful. “They need to attend to this matter as it will not go away,” says Skeens.
