Wandering Risk for Individuals with Dementia

For family caregivers, wandering is a very serious concern. This is especially true among persons with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. For this reason, understanding wandering is crucial. To help you on your journey, we’re breaking down the basics.

What Is Wandering?

Wandering is when someone with Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia roams away from their usual surroundings. According to the Alzheimer’s Association^Ⓡ, six in ten people with dementia will wander at least once and may do so repeatedly. This puts their health and safety at risk.

What Is the Main Risk Factor for Wandering?

The main overall risk factor for wandering is dementia, though the reasons for elopement and wandering run much deeper than that. Some of the most common reasons for wandering include:

• Disorientation or confusion
• Restlessness
• Pain or discomfort
• Anxiety or agitation
• Sundowning
• A yearning for familiar places, people, or objects from the past
• Unmet basic needs, including hunger and thirst

These risk factors may put those with dementia at a high risk of wandering, so finding ways to prevent this is key.

Ways to Help Prevent Wandering

You can take many preventative measures to decrease the risks of wandering as a caregiver. These include:

• Planning for safe exploration in a secure environment
• Maintaining a stable and consistent daily routine
• Installing locks and alarms on windows and exit doors to alert you if individuals try to wander
• Managing needs before they become unmet needs
• Providing close supervision
• Engaging the person with dementia in engaging activities and programs
• Purchasing wearables and identification to track your loved one in the event wandering does occur

Your techniques may need to be adapted as wandering occurs, so be sure to reassess periodically and make changes as necessary.

Preventing Wandering at Bridges^® by EPOCH

The experts at Bridges^® understand the importance of keeping your loved one safe. We employ many tactics to enhance personal safety. Our staff members are specially trained in dementia care, ensuring they know techniques to manage negative behaviors and wandering.

Our community has also been purposefully built to help prevent – or effectively manage – wandering with:

• Secure, intimate residential households that look and feel like home
• An abundance of natural light, soft colors, and directional cues to reduce confusion
• Warm atmosphere to help residents feel safe and calm
• A fully enclosed, secure courtyard giving residents the opportunity to safely explore the outdoors with our team members
• Sensory gardens

These design features provide family members peace of mind while ensuring their loved one receives the long-term care and support they need.

Schedule a Visit Today

Learn more about our dedicated team, specially created environment, and how we keep loved ones safe by scheduling a visit at the community nearest you.

Enhancing Quality of Life

Bridges^® by EPOCH memory care communities have been developed from the ground up to anticipate, meet, and exceed the needs of our residents and their families. Our team of remarkable people, the exceptional care and services we offer, and the purposeful design of our buildings all combine to create the most rewarding, secure, and nurturing lifestyle possible for our residents.

Bridges^® by EPOCH communities are located in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, in the following towns: Norwalk, CT; Stamford, CT; Trumbull, CT; Andover, MA; Hingham, MA; Lexington, MA; Mashpee, MA; Pembroke, MA; Sudbury, MA; Westford, MA; Westwood, MA; and Nashua, NH.