Tips to Prevent and Limit Alzheimer’s Wandering

As our loved ones start to age, it’s our responsibility to do all that we can to help them to adjust to how their minds and bodies are changing. And, this can be especially challenging if the person we care about how been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Unfortunately, that is the case for many individuals.

In fact, according to many students, Alzheimer’s is currently considered to be sixth leading cause of death within the United States, with more than five million people currently living with the disease and 1 and 3 seniors dying from it.
Although there are many symptoms that come with having the disease including the loss of long and short term memory and irritability, one symptom that could potentially put someone living with Alzheimer’s in potential danger is their ability to wander off.

If you have someone in your life who has recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and you’d like a few tips on things that you can do in order to prevent or limit them from going off without your knowledge, we’ve got five great tips for you below:

Create a daily plan. Something that Alzheimer’s patients need is a consistent routine. One of the best ways to insure that they have it is to create a daily plan. It needs to list all of the things that they need to do each day along with the times in which they should do them. One website that can walk you through how to come up with a daily plan is ALZ.org. Just go to the site and put “create a daily plan” in the search field.

Stay aware of when they tend to wander most. If you happen to live with the Alzheimer’s patient, you will notice that they tend to have a bit of a routine of their own when it comes to when they will wander off. It might be first thing in the morning or it might be late at night when they’re attempting to make their way to the bathroom. Whatever the case may be, the more aware you are of their patterns, the more prepared you will be should they happen to roam or stray.

Avoid congested places as much as possible. Something that can prove to be a potential nightmare for you and the person who has Alzheimer’s is if you are out in a crowded place and then end up wandering off. So, when it comes to congested or crowded places like concerts, malls and even grocery stores, it’s probably best to avoid them. For your peace of mind and their safety.

Camouflage your doors. It’s harder for someone to wander off if they can’t find the doorknob. That’s why, at night, you might want to camouflage their bedroom door by putting something like a detachable curtain on the door.

Provide constant supervision. If you were to go to a place like Visitng Angels Matthews NC for a seminar on Alzheimer’s caregivers , one of the things that they would probably mention is that it’s absolutely imperative that you offer the Alzheimer’s patient in your life constant supervision. The longer they are alone, the more uncomfortable they tend to be which can result in anxiety and ultimately wandering off. For more information on how to properly care for an Alzheimer’s patient, visit HelpGuide.org and put “Dementia and Alzheimer’s Care” in the search field.