My mother was transported from her residential care facility due to her escaping the home and putting herself and other residents at risk. Anyone have a similar experience?

Maggiemay1971, I agree with Lea that your Mom needs to be in "Memory Care". My Dad moved to Memory Care after being in Independent Living, as he was starting to wander away from his apartment, and trying to go outside.

Once in Memory Care it such a relief. Dad had free range of the building, but he couldn't go outside without someone being with him. The front door to the building was always locked and a front desk person would buzz a person who wanted to come in. At night, the elevator would be locked at 7pm so the residents on the Memory Care floor couldn't get to the others levels. Dad accepted this new arrangement thus he didn't need added medicine.

Mags, it may well be that the facility will require mom to be on more meds to return as she’s unsafe after four running attempts and an injury.

Thank you - yes doped up is a harsh term. But after hearing horror stories about these facilities that's what I envision. Mom is already on Ativan twice a day at .5 mg along with a few other mood stablizers. Her place treats her with love and respect and is why I want her to stay there, but unfortunately they cannot lock down (I've already asked). Thank you for your response.

Your mother belongs in a Memory Care ALF that's locked, and where she cannot escape and hurt herself. Using words like 'doped up' tends to demonize the need for medication to calm your mother down and to help her agitation that often accompanies dementia/ALZ. My mother was greatly helped with Ativan at .25 mgs and then it was increased to .5 mgs as needed. She went from super stressed out and upset/crying all the time to being able to smile and laugh again; hardly 'doped up' at all. Medication is a blessing when it's needed.

If your mother needs to be admitted for observation at the hospital and seen by the geriatric psychiatrist, so be it. They'll get things sorted out so she doesn't continue on with these delusions she's having where she feels the need to escape and run away. That's the main thing: getting her to a better place of calmness with her disease so she's feeling relaxed again. If they're able to calm her down, she should be able to go back to the care facility again. Although I wouldn't repeat that scenario again if this were my mother. The goal is to keep her safe and make it impossible for her TO escape, and her current facility cannot provide her with that. Safety is the #1 goal for dementia patients, then comes keeping them calm.

The social worker at the hospital can probably help you by recommending a good Memory Care ALF for mom. My mom's place only had 23 residents, so each was able to get quite a bit of personalized attention. She was always treated with love and respect, I will tell you that. She lived there for just under 3 years, and I was very happy with the care she received there.

I know how hard all this is; dementia is a cruel and relentless condition for all concerned to deal with. I sincerely hope the hospital can find the right meds for your mom so she can feel relaxed and calm as a result. Nobody should have to live in fear and feel the need to 'escape' their home because of delusions due to dementia.

BEST OF LUCK!