Using an airtag to check the location of elderly family members?

[Bodhitree]

I was wondering if anyone had considered this use? My stepfather is sadly losing much of his memory, and is starting to do strange things like get up in the middle of the night convinced he has to go somewhere. Could we use an airtag in his wallet or on his scoot mobile to track where he goes?

 

[StumpyBloke]

Not unless he will carry an iPhone with him or will be a range of other iPhones that can locate him.

Do not rely on air tags for this, they are not designed for it in any way shape or form.

 

[velocityg4]

The airtag will give off an audible alarm after a while. It’s designed specifically to prevent tracking people. As an anti stalking measure.

There’s GPS devices designed specifically for elder care. For those who tend to wander. Such as armbands or key fobs. Key fobs are likely better. As they are likely to remove armbands. But are likely to automatically take their keychain out of habit.

 

[goobot]

Cellular Apple Watch or iPhone would be better

 

[matrix07]

Apple Watch SE or Series 3. If his home has Wi-Fi you don’t need a cellular version. With SE you’ll have fall detection as a bonus. (and with watchOS 8, health sharing to your phone so you can see how his heart performs, how many steps he’s taken etc.).

For your specific use case though even a 2nd hand Apple Watch Series 1 or 2 would suffice but I believe that will require another iPhone to activate.

 

[waw74]

Cellular Apple Watch or iPhone would be better

Apple Watch SE or Series 3.

these options require charging every day. which can be a challenge for those with memory problems. So are not really a good choice for this use.

 

[matrix07]

these options require charging every day.

Using for this kind of activity you don’t have to charge it daily. It will last 3 days easily.

 

[Tumbleweed666]

I was wondering if anyone had considered this use? My stepfather is sadly losing much of his memory, and is starting to do strange things like get up in the middle of the night convinced he has to go somewhere. Could we use an airtag in his wallet or on his scoot mobile to track where he goes?

No, an you need to work out how to address the root cause before he drives onto a highway.
My dad had this so I appreciate its not easy

 

[Bodhitree]

Thanks guys for the ideas. I’ve noticed that there are a range of gps trackers for seniors on Amazon, so I might go have a look around for a dedicated device.

 

[parseckadet]

Using for this kind of activity you don’t have to charge it daily. It will last 3 days easily.

Whether it's one day or three, that's not enough in this scenario. If it was a month then maybe.

 

[JamesMay82]

Thanks guys for the ideas. I’ve noticed that there are a range of gps trackers for seniors on Amazon, so I might go have a look around for a dedicated device.

How did you get on? I’ve thought about the airtags to hide in my kids backpack or hidden in her shoe. I know it sounds like extreme parenting but sounds like they don’t work that well potentially so curious about your GPS idea.

 

[Bodhitree]

Yeah the AirTags are (by design) not really suitable for tracking people, I’ve found.

But there are a number of other options out there, most of which require his cooperation. Luckily it’s not such an immediate problem for me, it’s still manageable for my mother to check his behaviour without resorting to a tracker.

 

[Marli]

My parents have spent a few weeks at my place while getting some medical stuff taken care of.. They took a house key and I attached a Airtag. The tag did start beeping and told them it was following them, but after it got over that it worked well to track them. I looked them up a few times a day to see when they would be back for dinner etc..