Keeping Seniors Safe (Wandering Part 2)
Posted in Medical, Nursing Home Abuse, Walk-Aways on 22. Apr, 2010
(Note: This post is a continuation of yesterday’s post called “Wandering Seniors.”)
If your elderly parents have a tendency to wander, you are probably looking for different ways to keep them safe and secure. Nursing home walk-aways do occur, especially with seniors who have dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, or other conditions that cause confusion and disorientation.
There are many things that both the family and the residential caregivers can do to prevent nursing home wanderings and injuries.
A key to preventing senior wandering is knowing whether your relative has the propensity for walking off or wandering. Do they easily get bored? Are they often agitated? Do they get restless or pace? These are all signs that your loved one may be susceptible to wandering.
Nursing Home Safety and Senior Wandering Prevention
- Ensure the nursing home has warning bells or wander-prevention devices that alert staff when a door or window is opened.
- Loosely cover the door knobs to make opening more difficult for the elderly.
- Disguise doors with curtains, removable screens, or painting them the same as the walls.
- Install a pressure sensitive mat at the door of the person’s room that sounds an alarm if the person leaves the room.
- Have round-the-clock supervision.
- Do not have car keys or bus tokens readily available. Make the resident have to ask for them.
- Review the facility to ensure that all the alert mechanisms work and that staff have not propped open a door to smoke which would allow your senior access to escape from the facility.
If your parent or loved one has suffered a serious injury as a result of a senior wandering incident, consult a nursing home attorney right away! You’ll want to ask critical questions such as: how long have you been practicing law; do you have experience with senior wandering cases; how many cases have you won?
To review part 1 of this post again, click here.
