SE watch for tracking a family member with dementia?

[cSalmon]

After another "unannounced walk" I am looking at the Watch SE 'GPS only' for a family member. I understand I would need to charge it each night and place it on their wrist each morning. I've tried the tracker devices however they only work with bluetooth and Never seem to work for any distance. The medical devices I've found are extremely expensive. I've read through past threads on the subject and gather most don't think the Apple watch is a workable solution. Having the member carry anything is out of the question.

My question with the gps only SE would I be able to see where the person is if I paired it up with my iPhone even away from wifi and cellular coverage? What are other downsides that I might not know of? Anyone have a family member with dementia find a gps tracking solution?

Any advice or insights are appreciated.

thanks,

 

[MacCheetah3]

Foremost, you'd (probably) need the cellular version of the watch for that use case.

1) If they move beyond Wi-fi coverage, there's no way for the watch to send the data, even though GPS can determine position. (So, you could potentially see where they've been but not in realtime.)
2) It's required for services such as Family Setup because of point #1 and each watch needs a separate phone number.

The benefits -- this is from a parent-child perspective but similarly applies to extra vulnerable adults.

The highlight feature for a lot of parents will likely be the GPS tracking capabilities, which neatly integrate into Apple’s existing Find My app. You can see where your child is, set up notifications for when they arrive or leave a specific location, and even get an alert if they aren’t at an expected location at a specific time.

An Apple Watch with Family Setup is an expensive smart watch for your kids

Track your kids, for a price.

www.theverge.com

 

[McScooby]

I got a watch for my mother, didn't tell her that was partially the reason though!

If you can hold off til March, maybe wait & see if the rumoured Airtags come out, could put a couple on them, in a jacket/bag etc. assuming you don't need your own device locally to track them.

The watch would have the benefit if the family member doesn't carry a phone & need to call emergency services & if they do carry a phone, just track that. Only downside with the watch is that it can be easily removed.

 

[Apple_Robert]

For your use, you definitely need a cellular model. It should work pretty well.

 

[Wando64]

After another "unannounced walk" I am looking at the Watch SE 'GPS only' for a family member. I understand I would need to charge it each night and place it on their wrist each morning. I've tried the tracker devices however they only work with bluetooth and Never seem to work for any distance. The medical devices I've found are extremely expensive. I've read through past threads on the subject and gather most don't think the Apple watch is a workable solution. Having the member carry anything is out of the question.

My question with the gps only SE would I be able to see where the person is if I paired it up with my iPhone even away from wifi and cellular coverage? What are other downsides that I might not know of? Anyone have a family member with dementia find a gps tracking solution?

Any advice or insights are appreciated.

thanks,

I don’t know in which country you are, but a quick google search has highlighted a number of specialised gps for dementia patients at a far lower price than an Apple Watch.
These devices can usually keep a charge for up to a week, they only do one job and are not as fragile and potentially confusing (for someone with dementia) as an AW.
I would stick to a specialised tool.