Silver Alert Programs: An Exploration of Community Sentiment Regarding a Policy Solution to Address the Critical Wandering Problem in an Aging Population

Abstract

This chapter describes how a constructionist approach to social problem theorizing can be useful in examining how community sentiment develops and coalesces around an emerging social policy, specifically the Silver Alert solution to the problem of critical wandering among elders with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. We begin by describing the ostensible problem Silver Alert plans were poised to address: the concern regarding the rise in number of elders with dementia and the burden they would place on society. Then we discuss why claims-makers posited a Silver Alert policy as a viable solution that receives near universal positive community sentiment. However, we suggest that the policy is a form of control theater and end the chapter with a discussion of potential unintended consequences of the Silver Alert program.