{"id":5177,"date":"2021-05-19T22:00:58","date_gmt":"2021-05-19T22:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/s37407.p1377.sites.pressdns.com\/resources\/alzheimers-and-dementia-the-wandering-problem\/"},"modified":"2021-05-19T22:00:58","modified_gmt":"2021-05-19T22:00:58","slug":"alzheimers-and-dementia-the-wandering-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/alzheimers-and-dementia-the-wandering-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"Alzheimer\u2019s and dementia: The wandering problem"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Six in 10 people with&nbsp;Alzheimer&rsquo;s&nbsp;or another form of&nbsp;dementia&nbsp;will wander away from their care settings, according to the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.alz.org\/care\/alzheimers-dementia-wandering.asp\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Alzheimer&rsquo;s Association<\/a>. Disorientation begins in the early stages of dementia, causing people to get lost. They may not remember their name or address&nbsp;and can easily become disoriented in their own neighborhood. As the disease progress, people with Alzheimer&rsquo;s or dementia may set off on a journey but be too cognitively impaired to get to their destination, much less find their way home, which presents a substantial safety risk for themselves and motorists they may encounter.<\/p><p>Caregivers may frequently find themselves calling the police to track down a missing loved one, and thankfully, law enforcement officials are for the most part&nbsp;knowledgeable about dementia and handle such situations with sensitivity.<\/p><p>Anyone with a memory impairment is at risk of wandering. This might occur for several reasons, including:<\/p><ul><li><strong>Confusion.<\/strong>&nbsp;People with Alzheimer&rsquo;s or dementia might become confused about where they are, even if they are in their own house or their own senior community or nursing home. This confusion&nbsp;can peak&nbsp;at nighttime due to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.alz.org\/help-support\/caregiving\/stages-behaviors\/sleep-issues-sundowning\">sundown syndrome<\/a>, a symptom of Alzheimer&rsquo;s and dementia.<\/li><li><strong>Stress or fear.<\/strong>&nbsp;People with Alzheimer&rsquo;s or dementia might feel the need to wander off as a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mayoclinic.org\/healthy-lifestyle\/caregivers\/in-depth\/alzheimers\/art-20046222\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">reaction<\/a>&nbsp;to a loud and disrupting noise, a stimulating environment&nbsp;or a situation that seems confusing or stressful. This might even include seeing news on TV of a fire or a violent scene in a movie which they think is happening in their immediate environment.<\/li><li><strong>Old habits.<\/strong>&nbsp;People with Alzheimer&rsquo;s or dementia might think they are &ldquo;trying to go home,&rdquo; even when they are at their current home already. Sometimes, they might think they are late for work and need to get there as soon as possible.&nbsp;<\/li><li><strong>Basic needs.<\/strong>&nbsp;People with Alzheimer&rsquo;s or dementia might simply think the back door is the bathroom door, and can easily become sidetracked and disoriented looking for familiar things and accidentally wander away.<\/li><li><strong>Boredom.<\/strong>&nbsp;People with dementia might feel the itch to wander away purposefully due to basic boredom with their current activities.<\/li><\/ul><h2>What caregivers can do to prevent wandering<\/h2><p>According to the&nbsp;Alzheimer&rsquo;s Association, here are various strategies to help caregivers prevent loved ones from wandering:<\/p><ul><li><strong>Carry out daily activities.<\/strong>&nbsp;Providing a person with Alzheimer&rsquo;s or dementia with a structured routine is key to establishing stability and preventing disorientation that often precipitates wandering.<\/li><li><strong>Keep track of times<\/strong>&nbsp;<strong>your loved one is most likely to wander.<\/strong> If your loved one is most likely to wander off right after dinner, plan activities for that time, like exercise or an enjoyable hobby. This can help prevent anxiety, agitation&nbsp;and stress.<\/li><li><strong>Reassure the person&nbsp;if they become stressed, confused, or disoriented.<\/strong> If your loved one expresses the need to follow old routines (like &ldquo;going home&rdquo; or &ldquo;going to work,&rdquo; avoid blatantly correcting the problem and instead communicate in a validating way. The Alzheimer&rsquo;s Association&nbsp;suggests&nbsp;saying something such as, &ldquo;We are staying here tonight. We are safe and I&rsquo;ll be with you. We can go home in the morning after a good night&rsquo;s rest.&rdquo;<\/li><li><strong>Ensure all basic needs are met.<\/strong>&nbsp;Keeping your loved one&rsquo;s basic needs satisfied (like not feeling hungry or not needing to go to the bathroom) can help prevent them wandering off to do such activities.<\/li><li><strong>Avoid busy, chaotic places&nbsp;that might trigger disorientation.<\/strong> Places such as &nbsp;grocery stores, malls&nbsp;and concerts can easily cause stress and disorientation, prompting your loved one to wander to a calmer environment.<\/li><li><strong>Hide locks out of sight,&nbsp;and use a device that signals when a door or window is opened. <\/strong>This can help prevent a loved one from leaving and can alert caregivers the moment they might potentially start to wander.<\/li><li><strong>Always supervise.<\/strong>&nbsp;Don&rsquo;t leave a loved one alone in new or unfamiliar environments.<\/li><li><strong>Keep car safety in mind.<\/strong>&nbsp;Never lock a loved one alone in a car. Also make sure to hide car keys &mdash; a loved one might forget that they cannot drive anymore (if that&rsquo;s the case).&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul><h2>What should caregivers do if their loved one wanders off?<\/h2><p>While it can be terrifying to discover that a loved one with Alzheimer&rsquo;s or dementia has wandered away, there are ways to prepare and actions to take:<\/p><ul><li>Keep a list of neighbors and their phone numbers nearby to enlist their help.<\/li><li>Have extra copies of a photo of your loved one to give to neighbors, police officers&nbsp;or other first responders. Keep track of what clothes he or she wears each day in case you need to describe the outfit.<\/li><li>Keep in mind that people with Alzheimer&rsquo;s&nbsp;tend to follow&nbsp;the direction of their dominant hand, so know what hand they write with.<\/li><li>Consider enrolling your loved one in the Alzheimer Association&rsquo;s wandering prevention program,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.alz.org\/care\/dementia-medic-alert-safe-return.asp\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">MedicAlert\/Safe Return<\/a>. For $62 (plus a $35 membership renewal fee each year), your loved one will receive an identification bracelet and access to 24-hour emergency support.<\/li><li>Caregivers can also buy a GPS tracking device for their loved ones. The&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/gpssmartsole.com\/gpssmartsole\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">GPS SmartSole<\/a>&nbsp;is a shoe insert that fits inside most shoes and allows caregivers to track their loved one from any smartphone, tablet, or computer with real-time location reports, while the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.itraq.com\/?rfsn=608860.34035&amp;gclid=EAIaIQobChMIwLyC8saS2gIVQiQrCh2siAz1EAAYASAAEgJimPD_BwE\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">iTraq<\/a>&nbsp;is a tracking device that can be clipped onto a coat or purse to monitor the location of a loved one.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Six in 10 people with&nbsp;Alzheimer&rsquo;s&nbsp;or another form of&nbsp;dementia&nbsp;will wander away from their care settings, according to the&nbsp;Alzheimer&rsquo;s Association. Disorientation begins in the early stages of dementia, causing people to get lost. They may not remember their name or address&nbsp;and can easily become disoriented in their own neighborhood. As the disease progress, people with Alzheimer&rsquo;s or <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/alzheimers-and-dementia-the-wandering-problem\/\">Read more&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":975,"featured_media":30931,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"enable_toc":false,"care_reviewed_by":0,"care_post_updated_flag":false,"care_updated_date":"","last_update":"2021-05-19","view_count":1868,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"member-type":[3],"vertical":[8,33,34],"platform":[2],"class_list":["post-5177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","member-type-seeker","vertical-seniors","vertical-senior-care-advice-tips","vertical-senior-health-safety","platform-resources"],"acf":[],"created":"2019-01-17","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/975"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5177\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5177"},{"taxonomy":"member-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/member-type?post=5177"},{"taxonomy":"vertical","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vertical?post=5177"},{"taxonomy":"platform","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/c\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/platform?post=5177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}