How to Manage Dementia-Related Wandering in a Senior

How to Manage Dementia-Related Wandering

To prevent a loved one from wandering and promote safe walking, you first need to define what they are trying to achieve or where they want to go. Don’t assume a “wanderer” is literally just wandering. This behavior is very individualized and a full description of their actions is essential. Of course, that’s easier said than done. Family caregivers and nursing staff are very busy, but it is important to take the time to observe the nuances of their behavior. Sometimes, it is as simple as asking your loved one what they are doing, but often you will need to step back and closely watch what is happening to discover the purpose behind their behavior. This may take time and require multiple observations. Just remember that, if you cannot define and measure the wandering behavior, how can you or dementia care experts develop interventions?

Wandering is complex, and there is no one-size-fits-all intervention for this symptom of dementia. Use the following three-step approach when troubleshooting these behaviors.

Step 1: Describe What You Are Seeing

The term wandering is vague and misleading. We often fall into the trap of slapping labels on things or lumping a group of unrelated behaviors together, but dementia and its symptoms are unique to each person. To find a workable solution, you must try to understand your loved one’s feelings and motivations during these episodes. Below is a list of questions about common wandering behaviors that can help you begin analyzing their actions.

Are they:

• Trying to escape and leave the building?
• Frequently or continuously moving from place to place with no perceived direction or destination?
• Walking in a goal-oriented manner? (e.g. in search of “missing” or unattainable people or places)
• Waking up in the middle of the night and acting disoriented?
• Getting lost or unintentionally leaving the premises?
• Anxiously pacing or fretfully walking?
• Having trouble locating/recognizing significant landmarks/belongings in a familiar setting?
• Following behind or “shadowing” another person’s movements?
• Feeling paranoid or in danger?

For example, these questions may be able to help you differentiate between whether your loved one’s nighttime wandering is due to disruptions in their sleep/wake cycle, scary visual hallucinations before falling asleep or disorientation after getting up to go to the bathroom. Remember, though, a person with dementia may exhibit multiple types of wandering behavior that can fluctuate in frequency and severity.

Step 2: Consider the Time of Day and Frequency

Think about how often these unusual behaviors occur, the time of day they occur, and what the consequences of them are. These patterns can help caregivers prepare for episodes before they begin and prevent negative effects. Examples could be:

• Behavior occurs daily at 3:00 p.m. for two hours and results in the person attempting to escape the premises.
• Behavior occurs once a month in the middle of the night and results in the person turning on all the lights in the house and waking up family members.
• Behavior starts daily at 8:00 a.m. and lasts for 10 hours, non-stop. The result is the person fell three times this week and lost 10 pounds over the last month.
• Behavior occurred once while on vacation at 10:00 a.m. and resulted in the person being lost outside for two hours.
• Behavior occurs about twice a week at 7:00 p.m. and results in the person pacing around the home.

Step 3: Contemplate the Underlying Causes

Think about your loved one and ask yourself what could be causing them to wander. A person’s lifelong routines, the onset of new symptoms and even basic personal needs could be triggering their behaviors. The following questions might help:

• Was your loved one always very active?
• Is there a specific activity that they used to do during the day that coincides with the timing or actions of your loved one’s wandering? (e.g. going to pick the kids up from school, taking a morning walk, preparing breakfast)
• Is your loved one at the stage of dementia where they are confusing the past and present?
• Do they recognize familiar surroundings?
• Does your loved one have any unmet needs, such as needing to use the bathroom, wanting food or water, or desiring comfort?
• Does your loved one seem worried, anxious or bored?
• Have any new medications been added to your loved one’s regimen? What about dosage changes?
• Has their environment changed at all recently?

Only after you have defined the problem by completing these three steps can you start thinking about whether an intervention is needed and what that might entail.

Ways to Prevent Wandering Behaviors and Promote Safety

You may come to find out that your loved one’s wandering behaviors are merely annoying and do not pose any harm. This is a good thing, because it does not require an intervention. Walking provides many health benefits and can be a good activity. However, if a person with dementia is walking to the point of exhaustion, losing weight, falling, getting lost or escaping into unsafe areas, then interventions are necessary.

It is found that family, paid caregivers and health care providers tend to want to control or stop behaviors through medications or physical restraints first. That is the worst thing you can do. There are no FDA-approved medications for wandering behaviors, and the medications many doctors recommend can cause sedation and contribute to falls. The use of physical restraints can lead to poor circulation, weakness, incontinence and impede quality of life.