My mother is now at the stage of trying to get out of the home. How do we discuss this issue with her?
We have a caregiver in the home that cares for her 24 hrs. How do we assist my mother to be able to discuss wandering issue? We need to know that she is safe in the home.
LindaPerez, you mentioned you have a caregiver at Mom's home 24 hours a day. Is this one person or 3 people each doing an 8 hour shift?
If it is one person, that can become very difficult if Mom goes out and wander. Hopefully Mom doesn't do this at night so that the caregiver can get a good night sleep. Otherwise the caregiver will burn out quickly.
Anything that you put on the doors much be easy to open in case there is a fire, so that can limit what you can do. What about a buzzer or bell mat in front of the doors that lead outside.... it wouldn't be a sound that would frighten Mom but would alert the caregiver.
I remember someone writing that placing a black throw rug in front of the doors that lead out. For some elderly who have dementia, they think it is a hole and won't stop on it. Or maybe a floor length drape in front of the door that Mom thinks is a window.
My cousin had deadbolts installed that needed a key to open for the inside. Check with your fire department to see if u can do this. I put child guards on Mom's door that had a round knob. They just go around and around makes it hard to open the door. There is something you can put at the top of the door.
I know this development is very worrying and a major safety concern. I don't know if you want to consider installing a Nest type security camera to help monitor her movements remotely. Or like Barb suggested locking all the doors or even putting up stop signs to deter her. Depending how this escalates the family might have to consider memory care.
Wandering is typical in some forms of dementia. Trying to reason with someone with dementia is not useful. The part of your dear mom's brain that used to understand that she shouldn't wander unsupervised is damaged.
Have you tried locking the door with a key that only the caregiver has access to?
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If it is one person, that can become very difficult if Mom goes out and wander. Hopefully Mom doesn't do this at night so that the caregiver can get a good night sleep. Otherwise the caregiver will burn out quickly.
Anything that you put on the doors much be easy to open in case there is a fire, so that can limit what you can do. What about a buzzer or bell mat in front of the doors that lead outside.... it wouldn't be a sound that would frighten Mom but would alert the caregiver.
I remember someone writing that placing a black throw rug in front of the doors that lead out. For some elderly who have dementia, they think it is a hole and won't stop on it. Or maybe a floor length drape in front of the door that Mom thinks is a window.
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I know this development is very worrying and a major safety concern. I don't know if you want to consider installing a Nest type security camera to help monitor her movements remotely. Or like Barb suggested locking all the doors or even putting up stop signs to deter her. Depending how this escalates the family might have to consider memory care.
Have you tried locking the door with a key that only the caregiver has access to?