My mom is 91 moderate dementia but physically in good condition. She is obsessed with being outside to walk her little dog or get fresh air. She has tried to enter neighbors homes so we never leave her alone and have caregivers a few days and my sister and I watch her. She picks up dandelions and leaves and brings them in. This is harmless. My doors are alarmed so I know when they are opening. Has anyone ever locked in their LO? I live with her, but she gets up too early to go out!
Very concerning when neighbors tell you that your mom was out at 5 am with no dog 2 blocks away.
With no short term memory, going outside every 5 minutes gets stressful for the person with memory. "You were just out " doesn't work on elderly who think they are fine. I am just asking how others have handled this issue, not locking her in. Child safe doorknob covers are so far the best thing I haven't thought of. Looking for a better solution, not wanting to do anything illegal or unsafe. She will go outside in any weather any time, and gets combative and angry when we say no.
If you do it with consideration and safety in mind I see no problem with it.
for example; https://www.washingtonlawhelp.org/resource/protecting-elders-and-vulnerable-adults-from?ref=316t6
best of luck, keep her safe.
If your talking anything more more restrictive than that - H3LL NO! Not unless you want to risk getting arrested for elder abuse - or worse.
Some time back a local couple locked their disabled adult son in his room while they went to the store. The house caught fire and the young man was killed. The couple? They were arrested for Manslaughter.
If the doors are alarmed, so you can hear when she tries to leave, why would she need to be locked in? Please help me understand --- if she gets up really early and tries to leave the home, then the alarm goes off, which I totally understand can interfere with your normal sleeping, how would a door lock help? If she's like my mother, back when she lived at home, she would just get frustrated and come into your room and wake you up, right? So, not a win-win solution.