Purple Alert is a free app intended to help locate and safeguard missing persons with dementia, as well as providing peace of mind to families and carers. The app relies upon its community of users to cover as much of Scotland as possible.
The app has been designed by people living with dementia and carers, Alzheimer Scotland staff, Police Scotland, Social Work, Dementia Friends Scotland, Health and Social Care Partnerships and telecare services.
The instructional videos below were created by the Dementia Circle team at Alzheimer Scotland.
Downloading the app
The app is available for both Android and iOS (iPhones) devices. You will need a smartphone in order to use the app.
Creating a profile
After downloading the app you will need to create a profile for yourself as part of the Purple Alert community.
If you care for a person with dementia it is recommended that you also create a profile for them. Where possible, please obtain consent from the person living with dementia before sharing their personal information.
How alerts work
Alerts are only raised when someone with dementia is missing.
If you have created a profile for a person with dementia and you have sent an alert using the app that the person is missing, then the missing person profile is made public to every Purple Alert user within 30 miles radius of the last seen location.
A missing person profile will only be visible for as long as the alert is active (plus 24 hours after the person’s profile has been marked as found).
Sending an alert
The following video takes you through the process of sending an alert using the app.
Responding to an alert
If you see a person you believe is the subject of an alert you should tap the I have seen this person button and phone the carer. You can approach the person and offer reassurance and you may want to offer the chance for them the care and missing person to speak to one another.
If you are unsure whether someone is the missing person, you can still check if they are OK and phone the carer for clarification.
Once an alert is over
When a missing person is found, the carer should use the app to record where and when the individual was found. It is estimated that 30% of people who go missing are likely to do so again so this feature allows the carer to keep a record of these occurrences.
Other useful information
The Herbert Protocol is a form that you can use to quickly provide the Police with important information about a person who has gone missing.