Harry's Home Care offers skilled nursing and personal care support to help patients remain in their own homes. By providing education to family members while attending to patients, Harry's Home Care empowers loved ones to manage wandering and other challenging elements of caregiving.
For family members of individuals with dementia, wandering can be one of the most frustrating and dangerous aspects of the condition to manage. It occurs when cognitive decline means that patients no longer have the ability to know where they are and where they are going. This loss of orientation is mental as well as physical, which means that the patient may head out of the house for a place that he or she used to go years or decades ago.
Whether the person in question sets out for a destination or appears to simply wander aimlessly, the caregiver's difficult task is to keep him or her safe. Many families find that exercise and mental stimulation helps to control the impulse to wander. Some choose the straightforward method of securing doors and windows so that the patient cannot open them easily, while alarms provide warnings if he or she has found a way out.
Other safety strategies focus not on wandering prevention but on supporting a quick return home. Experts recommend that all potential wanderers carry identification, which should include a caregiver's phone number as well as key medical information. Some families are able to equip their loved ones with wearable tracking devices, such as jewelry.
In certain neighborhoods and settings, caregivers can notify those nearby of wandering issues. Many neighbors get to know who nearby has dementia and who to call if they see the person walking about. Brightly colored clothing can help both loved ones and neighbors to identify the wanderer and help get the individual home before she or he travels too far.
