Where Did They Go? Practical Tips To Prepare For — and Prevent — Wandering in Our Loved Ones With Diagnoses of Alzheimer’s and Other Dementias
You’re going to wish you’d known the third tip for wandering outside from the very beginning!
As caregivers for our families with Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia, we’ve learned that wandering is a common and potentially dangerous behavior. In this post, we’ll share strategies for managing wandering both outside and inside the home. We are Sue Ryan and Nancy Treaster, and through our experiences, we’ve developed ten tips to help you keep your loved one safe while giving you peace of mind.
Wandering Outside
Tip 1: Use your grapevine of family, friends, and neighbors
One of the most effective ways to keep your loved one safe is by informing your community of connections about their diagnosis.
Nancy’s Experience:
When my husband was diagnosed with dementia, we shared the news with a few of our closest neighbors. This paid off when he wandered away one day while working in the backyard. Fortunately, a neighbor who knew about his condition called to let me know he was at their house, confused. This experience taught me the importance of having a support network aware of the situation.
Sue’s Experience:
Early in my husband Jack’s diagnosis, we decided to share it with everyone. When he went for his daily walks, neighbors would often keep an eye out for him, sometimes walking alongside him or guiding him home if he seemed lost or had begun wandering. The community’s support was invaluable in keeping him safe while maintaining his independence.
Tip 2: Leverage tracking devices for both peace of mind and independence
Tracking devices can provide the location of a wandering loved one. Some can even be programmed for ‘safe zones’. These can be in shoes, on the wrist, in the phone, on key rings, or clipped to a belt, continuously identifying and monitoring someone’s location.
Sue’s Experience:
I wish I had started using a tracking device earlier in my husband’s journey. It would have made it easier to locate him quickly when he wandered off one day. He had been dropped off by a friend and walked into our garage as though he was coming inside. The friend drove away, and — for some reason — Jack turned around and began wandering instead of coming inside.
Tip 3: Register with emergency services
Registering your loved one with local emergency services leads to faster, more effective responses if they wander.
Sue’s Experience:
I registered Jack with emergency services in the beginning of our journey, providing them with his photo, nickname, hobbies, and medical information. This proved invaluable when he wandered off. I called 911. Officers were dispatched immediately, quickly found him, and treated him with kindness and understanding. He was having a happy conversation with the officers when I got to them. This gave me incredible peace of mind.
Tip 4: Install childproof door covers, door locks, or double-sided deadbolt locks on doors
Simple solutions like childproof locks or two sided deadbolts can prevent your loved one from ever getting outside and save you concerns over their safety and location.
Nancy’s Experience:
After my husband wandered to a neighbor’s house, I installed expensive double deadbolts on all the external doors. Later, I discovered that simple childproof door knob covers were just as effective and much more affordable. While I wish I had tried the doorknob covers first and saved the money I spent on a locksmith, it taught me to continue to be curious about solutions — even when I’d found one.
Tip 5: Secure windows and sliding doors
Don’t forget about windows and sliding doors when safeguarding your home.
Nancy’s Experience:
I noticed my husband had begun fidgeting with window latches — something he had never done before. He sometimes accidentally opened them. I installed keyed window sash locks on all external windows to prevent this. For a sliding door, you can place a pole in the bottom track to stop it from opening.
Wandering Inside
Tip 6: Safety-proof accessible areas
As wandering becomes more frequent, it’s crucial to ensure that all areas your loved one can access inside the home are safe.
Sue’s Experience:
When Jack started wandering more, we focused on making every accessible area of our home as safe as possible. This included removing tripping hazards, securing loose rugs, and putting away potentially dangerous items. As I had done when our 2-year-old granddaughter had come to visit, looking through our home with ‘curious eyes’ at what might be interesting to a child, I intentionally looked at everything in our home for what was safe and not safe.
Tip 7: Address issues with sleep. This is helpful for both the caregiver AND care receiver
Wandering often coincides with disrupted sleep patterns. Working with your medical team to address sleep issues can help reduce nighttime wandering.
Nancy’s Experience:
My husband went through a phase where he would stay awake for 48 hours straight, then sleep for a night. We worked with his doctor to find the right combination of medications to help regulate his sleep patterns, which helps minimize how much he gets up during the night. If he wasn’t sleeping, I wasn’t sleeping either. Sleep is important for both of us.
Tip 8: Create a safe nighttime environment
Limit nighttime access to essential areas only, such as the bedroom and bathroom.
Nancy’s Experience:
We used child proof door knob covers on the inside of our bedroom door, which had an ensuite bathroom. This allowed my husband access to these essential areas while preventing him from wandering to potentially dangerous parts of the house at night.
Tip 9: Use monitoring devices
Baby monitors or cameras help you keep an eye on your loved one and minimize how much you have to get up during the night.
Nancy’s Experience:
We installed a motion detector next to my father’s bed. It was positioned to alert us when he got out of bed so we could look at the camera to see what he was doing.
Tip 10: Secure staircases
Stairs can be particularly dangerous for those with dementia. Issues include changes in their depth perception, lighting that has shadows on the stairs, their gait, balance, and stability.
Sue’s Experience:
Since our living area was on the second floor, I had a door installed at the top of the stairs with a keyed lock on our side. This prevented my husband from accidentally accessing the stairs while still allowing easy exit when accompanied.
These strategies are about maintaining safety, independence, and dignity for your loved one, while providing you peace of mind. While some measures might seem restrictive, they’re implemented out of love and concern for their well-being.
If you have tips you think others would benefit from, please share them on our Facebook page or Instagram page.
For more on this topic click HERE to listen to our podcast episode.
We’re all on this journey together.
