Silver Alert, found in various forms in several states in the United States of America,  is a public notification system to identify and locate missing vulnerable persons, especially seniors with dementia or other disabilities.  In 2015, with funding from United Way, BSAA completed an  environmental scan of missing senior/Silver Alert programs in North America.   Upon completion of the research and determining that no  such program exists in Canada,  a steering committee was formed, which was comprised of carya, BSAA, Calgary Police Services, Alzheimer Society of Calgary, the City of Calgary and United Way.  In November of  2015, the steering committee organized a community conversation in Calgary with key stakeholders to gauge the interest and capacity to  develop a “missing senior” response in Calgary.  A cross section of  stakeholders from all sectors agreed to move forward and an action  committee was formed as part of Calgary’s Age Friendly Strategy.

The Calgary Coordinated Community response to Missing Seniors has successfully moved forward.  Key deliverables address the following:

• strategies that will assist authorities in finding older adults
• ensuring that the response systems are efficient and coordinated
• development of public awareness campaign
• development of a network that can support a community response an and monitor issues pertaining to vulnerable older adults
• identification and implementation of an alert system to notify the community when a vulnerable senior is missing