When someone with Alzheimer’s disease wanders and becomes lost, it is a frightening experience that put the person at risk for serious or fatal injury.

Understanding Wandering
Wandering may be triggered when a person with Alzheimer’s:

• No longer recognizes familiar people, places, and objects
• Feels lost in a new or changed environment
• Tries to fulfill former obligations, such as going to work or taking care of a child
• Takes medications that have side effects such as restlessness and confusion
• Experiences confusion at certain times of the day or night
• Looks for a way out of the home
• Is restless due to a lack of physical activity

Preventing Wandering

• Check to see if the person is hungry, needs to go to the bathroom, or feels uncomfortable.
• Encourage movement and exercise to reduce anxiety and restlessness.
• Involve the person in daily activities such as folding laundry or preparing meals.
• Reduce noise levels and confusion.
• Reassure the person who may feel lost, abandoned, or disoriented.

Structure The Day
Establishing a daily routine that includes meaningful activities and sufficient physical exercise can help lessen wandering behavior. Ask the person to help with simple household activities such as sweeping the floor or folding clothes. Also try playing familiar music and dancing or taking walks together outdoors.

Make Your Home Safe
To prevent unsafe exists from the house or backyard, place door and window locks out of sight and reach, either very high or very low. Use a double-bolt door lock, and keep the key handy in case there is an emergency. You may want to:

• Install high-tech devices such as electronic buzzers or bells to signal when a door is opened or place a pressure-sensitive mat at the door or person’s bedside that sounds an alarm to alert you to movement.
• Put hedges or a fence around your patio or yard and be sure a place locks on any gates.

Talk To Your Neighbors
Alert your neighbors about the person’s condition, and keep a list of their names and telephone numbers. Ask that they call you if they see the person outdoors without supervision.

Involve Your Local Police
Tell your local police about your loved one’s potential for wandering. Advise them that the Alzheimer’s Association has a national Safe Return program to help police locate or return someone who is lost from wandering.

Be Prepared For a Wandering Incident
Take steps in advance to gather important information and prepare yourself in the event that your loved one becomes lost.

• Post the Alzheimer’s Association’s checklist of what to do when the person in your care becomes lost.
• Keep a list of the person’s age, height, weight, hair color, blood type, eye color, allergies and medical condition.
• Make multiple copies of recent close-up photograph.
• Make a list of places the person may go such as familiar walking routes, and former neighborhoods.
• The Alzheimer's Association has a program designed especially for assisting with wandering. Visit this link to learn more about the Safe Return Program.