Your Walk, Kept Safe

The morning walk may be the best part of your day. Keeping it usually comes down to a few small habits, and most of them live in the phone in your pocket.

Should I stop walking alone now that I have a diagnosis?

Not automatically. If you are walking familiar routes without trouble, the goal is to keep doing it, with a few safeguards.

Walking alone is independence, exercise and time to think, all at once. Giving it up early costs a lot. The question is not whether you have a diagnosis but whether you have had trouble: getting confused about where you are, not recognizing a familiar street, or taking much longer to get home than you expected.

Getting lost does happen with dementia. The Alzheimer's Association estimates that six in ten people with dementia will wander or get lost at least once. Planning for it now, while it has not happened, is the same as wearing a seatbelt.

What should I always take with me?

A charged phone, some identification, and anything you need for your health. The phone is the most important.

One woman in an early-stage group got lost on her morning walk for the first time. Her phone had just enough charge for one call to say she was lost before it died. Her husband found her because her phone's location sharing gave him a place to start. The walk was not the problem. The battery was.

• A phone charged to at least half, every time. A small battery pack in a pocket is cheap insurance.
• Identification with an emergency contact. A card in your pocket, or a medical ID bracelet or tag.
• Water, and anything you need for your health, such as an inhaler or glucose tablets.
• Sensible shoes and clothing for the weather, including a light layer if you might be out longer than planned.

How should I set up my phone?

Put your medical information on the lock screen, share your location with someone you trust, and save a "home" address in your maps app.

• Medical ID (iPhone). In the Health app, fill in Medical ID with your name, conditions, medications and emergency contacts, and turn on Show When Locked. Anyone can then see it by pressing Emergency on the lock screen, without your passcode.
• Emergency information (Android). Most Android phones let you add medical information and emergency contacts that are visible from the lock screen. On Pixel phones this is in the Safety and emergency settings.
• Location sharing. On iPhone, share your location with a family member through Find My. On Android or iPhone, Google Maps also lets you share your real-time location with chosen contacts. You decide who sees it, and you can stop sharing any time.
• A saved home address. Set "Home" in your maps app so that one tap gives you walking directions back.
• A favorite contact at the top. The one person you would call first, easy to find in a hurry.

What should I do if I get lost?

Stop, get somewhere safe, and call. Do not keep walking in the hope that it will start to look familiar.

Write this down and keep it with your ID, because a plan you have decided on in advance is much easier to follow when you feel flustered:

• Stop walking. Moving further usually makes it harder for someone to find you.
• Get somewhere safe. A bench, a shop, a café, a bus shelter. Away from traffic and water.
• Call your first contact. Say you are not sure where you are and describe what you see: street signs, shop names, landmarks.
• Use the maps app. Tap Home for directions, or send your location.
• Ask for help. A shop worker or a passerby can read you the street name or call for you.
• If you cannot reach anyone, call 911 and say you have a memory condition and are lost.

How do I keep walking for as long as possible?

Stick to routes you know, at times of day when you feel sharpest, and agree a few simple rules with your family. Then review them together every few months.

• Familiar routes. New routes are fine with company. Alone, stay with the ones you know.
• Daylight. Morning is often the best time for thinking and for visibility.
• Tell someone your route and your expected time back. A text is enough.
• Agree what would change the plan. For example: if you get lost twice, you walk with company for a while and talk with your doctor. Deciding this together now keeps it your decision.
• Walk with others some of the time. A walking group or a regular partner adds company, and it means you are not always relying on your own memory.