Proactive
Steps to Help Manage Wandering Behaviors
Learning a loved one has Alzheimer’s disease or
another dementia can be frightening. But preparing for the behaviors that could
result may help both individuals and their families better cope with the
disease and keep loved ones safe.
Always ask yourself if that individual has an
unmet need that could trigger a wandering incident. Proactive steps
can help families reduce the risks for wandering and be better prepared if an
incident occurs.
Get Ready
Consider setting up an alert network through the Missing
Senior Network℠ program.
This free web service allows family caregivers to create an account with a list
of contacts to alert in the event a senior goes missing. The service then
provides the family caregivers a way to alert the network of friends, families
and businesses to be on the lookout for their missing senior if he or she
wanders. Setting up this network in advance can help families be prepared to
handle any incident of wandering.
Also, you can help protect an individual at risk
of wandering by ensuring he or she always is wearing identification. Consider
an ID bracelet, such as one from the MediAlert® + Alzheimer’s Association Safe Return® Program.
This is a fee-based 24-hour nationwide emergency response service for
individuals with Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia who wander or have a
medical emergency.
Prepare the Home
Safeguarding a home is one important
preparedness step family caregivers can undertake for a loved one prone to
wandering. Many products exist on the market to help keep older adults with
dementia safe at home. These include alarms that attach to doors and windows,
covers for doorknobs that help prevent an individual from leaving home, and
higher-security locks. Other strategies include placing locks out of eye-level
view, and painting doors and door frames the same color as walls to
“camouflage” exits.
A caregiver named Arlene says her husband often
awakes at night not knowing where he is or thinking it is time to get up. “So
we put a motion detector in the bedroom,” she said. “That has worked well for
me.”
Following, from Home Instead, Inc., franchisor
of the Home Instead Senior Care® network, are other tips to be proactive about
safety and wandering:
- Make a path in the home where
it is safe for an individual to wander. Closing off certain parts of a
room or locking doors can help achieve this goal. Such paths also can be
created outdoors – in a garden, for instance.
- One family caregiver remembers
her husband getting outdoors in the middle of the night in the dead of
winter. “A fence kept him from wandering from home so he came into the
garage. He was banging on the door at 5 a.m., which woke me up. If he had
gotten out of the yard, he would possibly have died from the cold.”
Install barriers and fences in the yard to help ensure that a loved one
doesn’t wander from home or into unsafe territory.
- Keep walkways well-lit. Add
extra lights to entries, doorways, stairways, and areas between rooms and
bathrooms. Use night lights in hallways, bedrooms and bathrooms to help
prevent accidents and reduce disorientation.
- Remove and disable guns or
other weapons. The presence of a weapon in the home of a person with
dementia may lead to unexpected danger. Dementia may cause a person to
mistakenly believe that a familiar family member is an intruder.
- Place medications in a locked
drawer or cabinet. To help ensure that medications are taken safely, use a
pill box organizer or keep a daily list and check off each medication as
it is taken. Check out Simple Meds atSimpleMedsRx.com for a way to help
seniors manage medications.
- Remove tripping hazards. Keep
floors and other surfaces clutter-free. Remove objects such as magazine racks,
coffee tables and floor lamps.
For more information from the Home Instead
Senior Care network and the Alzheimer’s Association about safeguarding a home
for someone with Alzheimer’s, visit CaregiverStress.com and theAlzheimer’s Association. You’ll also learn
more about how to deal with wandering and other common Alzheimer-related
behaviors in the book “Confidence to Care.” Go to ConfidencetoCare.com for
details about this resource as well as the accompanying free mobile app.
While there are many ways to be proactive in
helping to manage wandering behaviors, it’s also important to know what to do
when the unexpected happens. Check out what to do in a Wandering 911 situation.
Visit us online @ www.homeinstead.com/eastvalley.com
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