Posted by Raya, a resident of Los Altos, on Jan 18, 2008 at 6:12 am

Glad this man was found and was safe. I find it particularly unfortunate and sad that the issue of affordable care for the elderly with long-term health issues is not easily accessible. Had his wife been able to tap on a resource to assist her so that she could run a few errands, this would not have occured. It is stressful for the entire family and just a very unfortunate circumstance that turned out with a positive outcome this time... what about next time?

Posted by Resident, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Jan 18, 2008 at 8:15 am

I am also very pleased to see that the outcome of this case was so good. There seem to be a lot of these cases in the media lately and whereas it may just be the added publicity, it may be increasing. I feel for the families in cases like this as it must be very difficult.

I think that it should be possible for these families to hire teenagers as grannysitters for a couple of hours here and there to give the caregivers time to do errands or just have a break. These teenagers would not only be giving themselves some extra spending money, but learning about responsibility and compassion. My own teenage boys have taken my otherwise healthy neighbor for walks around the neighborhood for this very reason and it has given them insight into life in a way I hadn't imagined.

Posted by Joanna, a resident of the Adobe-Meadows neighborhood, on Jan 18, 2008 at 12:09 pm

I have heard that those watches with tracking beacons (GPS technology too) that are used for children can be used for senior citizens. I'm all for it.