Are you finding that your loved one with dementia has tried to wander outside of your home or keeps asking to go “home” and you’re afraid they may walk out the door because they seem antsy to leave home?
Try these tips to keep your loved one safe:
- Be aware that a person in any stage of Alzheimer’s disease can wander and get lost. Wandering can put the person at serious risk.
- Make sure that the person wears an identification bracelet.
- Consider whether a GPS or tracking device would be helpful. Find your local Project Lifesaver program: https://projectlifesaver.org/
- Download our Always Safe card and bring the completed card to your local police department to keep on record: https://www.alznj.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Always-Safe-Identification-Card-3.17.pdf.
- Discourage wandering by offering activities of interest every day, and by making sure the person is comfortable and not hungry, thirsty, and can find the restroom when needed.
- Create a safe space for wandering at your home or go on a walk with the person if it seems like that is what the person needs.
- Use alarms or bells on bedroom doors and exterior doors so you are alerted when doors are opened.
- Decorate the door to the outside so it’s not easily recognized as an exit or put a “STOP” sign on the inside of any exterior door.
Put a black mat on the floor inside a door leading outside. The person may perceive this as a hole in the floor and avoid the area.
