partners, the following strategies may also help reduce the risk of wandering or getting lost: • Decide on a set time each day to check in with each other. • Review scheduled activities and appointments for the day together. • If the care partner is not available, identify a companion for the person living with dementia as needed. • Consider alternative transportation options if getting lost or driving safely becomes a concern. Prepare your home As the disease progresses and the risk for wandering increases, assess your individual situation to see which of the safety measures below may work best to help prevent wandering. • Place deadbolts out of the line of sight, either high or low, on exterior doors. (Do not leave a person living with dementia unsupervised in new or changed surroundings, and never lock a person in at home.) • Use night lights throughout the home. • Cover door knobs with cloth the same color as the door or use safety covers. • Camouflage doors by painting them the same color as the walls or covering them with removable curtains or screens. • Use black tape or paint to create a two-foot black threshold in front of the door. It may act as a visual stop barrier. • Install warning bells above doors or use a monitoring device that signals when a door is opened. • Place a pressure-sensitive mat in front of the door or at the person’s bedside to alert you to movement. • Put hedges or a fence around the patio, yard or other outside common areas. • Use safety gates or brightly colored netting to prevent access to stairs or the outdoors. • Monitor noise levels to help reduce excessive stimulation. • Create indoor and outdoor common areas that can be safely explored. • Label all doors with signs or symbols to explain the purpose of each room. • Store items that may trigger a person’s instinct to leave, such as coats, hats, pocketbooks, keys and wallets. • Do not leave the person alone in a car. Take action when wandering occurs • Start search efforts immediately. When looking, consider whether the individual is right- or left-handed — wandering patterns generally follow the direction of the dominant hand. • Begin by looking in the surrounding vicinity — many individuals who wander are found within 1.5 miles of where they disappeared. • Check local landscapes, such as ponds, tree lines or fence lines — many individuals are found within brush or brier. • If applicable, search areas the person has wandered to in the past. • If the person is not found within 15 minutes, call 911 to file a missing person’s report. Inform the authorities that the person has dementia.
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