My mom was diagnosed about 18 months ago and the wandering started recently, twice in the past month she's left the house and we've had to go looking for her, once she made it three blocks before a neighbor noticed her walking in the wrong direction and called us, the second time my dad found her in the backyard confused about how she got there
We're not at the point where she needs locked doors yet but I'm terrified of what happens when we're not watching closely enough, my dad is her primary caregiver and he's 77 himself, he can't have eyes on her every second
I've been looking at GPS tracking options but there's so much out there and I don't know what actually works for someone with dementia, she won't consistently wear a watch or carry a phone so it needs to be something she doesn't have to remember to put on, or something we can make part of her routine that she won't take off
What have people used successfully, I need to be able to see where she is at any time and ideally get an alert if she leaves a certain area, she's still pretty mobile so she could cover a lot of ground before we realized she was gone
That being said after the wandering started it transitioned into sundowning that got worse and worse and eventually we had to transition to a locked facility. So starting the discussions and exploring facilities early is important too, especially considering that the good ones usually have a lineup.
No easy answer here. She needs round the clock care. Someone to watch over her 24/7. Since you father can no longer do it, you need to start looking at other options.
You are definitely past the point where she needed locked doors.
Does she take any medications specifically for dementia and dementia symptoms?
The problem is “active” tracking vs more passive tracking. Passive tracking is smaller and easier to have someone wear in a shoe or coat, but not nearly as accurate as a watch-type device with cellular service.
I’d look into keeping her from wandering, not trying to find her, the tracking should be if everything else fails to work.
Too many people get shot nowadays for simply being on someone elses property.
Our LO at early stages wore her unit keys around her neck along with one of these distress buttons. We threw an AirTag on it, worked pretty good, eventually we had to transfer her to a different facility and threw the AirTag onto the other set of our car keys since we don’t need them anymore.
Have you tried door alarms? They would alert you any time she tries to leave and allow someone to stop her before she gets too far.
We have a Ring camera/light over my mum’s front door & I get an alert when she goes in & out of her house & I can also see who comes to her door. I also have an AirTag on her keys as (so far) she always locks the door when she goes out as she lives alone. I have ‘find my’ set up on her/my iPhone & can track her with that if she takes it with her.
GPS Trackers for Seniors
Air tag in her shoe.
I did a multi-prong approach. iTag on keys, in wallet and car, Life 360 on phone, etc. There are also itag Mickey Mouse holders you can put on childrens clothes, and your Dad can pin an iTag on the back of her clothing each day. I’ve seen iTag holders in shoe inserts too on Amazon or somewhere. I also installed Eufy cameras on both doors so I could see when he last went out and I could tell police what he was wearing if he did elope. I was on constant alert till I hired a companion aide to stay with him all day every day. Then I could at least use the restroom without the anxiety cranking up. Now he’s in MC as all of it became too much when the aides weren’t able to make it some days.