it s beginning to get crazy , my dad is wandering away ......neighbors bringing him home ...he s getting worse im really frightened

Does he live with you? Dead bolts are a good thing. If he doesn't live with you, it's time for him to be somewhere safe. Have you checked into adult family homes?

And welcome to the forum...you'll find wonderful people and great advice here. Plus you can call the alz.org 24/7 hotline anytime you want to 800-272-3900 .

I went through this with my mom. She was living alone until April of this year. Her neighbors were bringing her home and because she started constantly going across the street and was very aggitated with the neighbor they put a restraining order on her. This was a big eye opener on how bad this really was. I had to step up (because I was in denial for a long time) and look at other options for her safety. It was only getting worse and I knew I had to do something. What helped me was adult protective services came over and gave recommendations for help. In my case I had to take my mom to the hospital and then ended up placing her in assisted living after trying to care for her in my home, but realized she needed 24/7 care and supervision. These are some of the behaviors that are associated with alzheimer's/dementia. I tried letting my mom live alone until I realized it's not in her best interest and something really bad could happen. Does your dad live alone? Just know you are not alone! My thoughts are with you and I hope you find some resolution!

thank you for your kind words .He s still prety good but the time is coming !!! i gues i should get him a Medical ID Bracelet with appropriate info.

alz association has wanders bracelets and you want to get him one asap. the dead bolt suggestion is also a good one. Like a kid going to camp you may want to be certain that his name is sown into his clothing and that he has a note in his walllet that lists all important medical information about him so that if he is found by the police they know what is going on. It may also be time to look into alz assisted living with a locked ward because it is so hard to watch someone 24/7.

just ordered bracelet from hope paige .com what should i look for in assisted living for him?

I went through the same thing with my Mom - she was mostly taking off at night when I was asleep. It sounds like your Dad needs someone with him 24/7. I live with my Mom and also have a caregiver who comes in about 60 hours a week. Rather than a keyed deadbolt I found an inexpensive solution was just a sliding bolt lock installed on the front door up near the top. My Mom seems to have a limited range of visual awareness so she has never looked up at the lock even though she sees up pushing it shut. This has completely stopped her wandering. She still tries to open the door and we just tell her it is broken.

does she wear a bracelet in case

Yes, my Mom does have an ID bracelet.

Good luck to everyone - you all have my blessings.

From another link posted on another thread about inserting microchips for identification.

Sorry I could not find any updates regarding this and how well it has worked. I guess this is still just in trial stages.

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=3536139

I would have definetly done this when my mom was going through the gotta get out of here and go home stage.

quote:

He s still prety good but the time is coming !!!

I'm not sure what you mean when you say he's still pretty good.

Food for thought: what signs will tell you he can no longer live alone or be unsupervised throughout his day?

Because usually, leaving the home and being unable to return without assistance would be at the top of that list.

The odds are very, very high that he's not eating properly, not consistently taking any medication he's on, and not managing his money well. He's probably not all clean and fresh anymore, either.

Please start looking into senior daycare right away, at a minimum.

This was posted by Norbert on another post. I found it very helpful in deciding if my dad was still safe enough to live by himself. I hope it helps you.



"The best and only information on this is the live alone assessment developed at the University of Iowa. It was developed because the average social worker has no uniform guidelines to make such a determination. One of the big problems is there is no way to know how a person will react in an emergency situation.

Check it out.
do a web search for ---
"Signs to watch for in people who live alone or who are at high risk"

or go to
http://www.nursing.uiowa.edu/c...tients/livealone.pdf

Items from the assessment

Not eating properly
Not taking medications properly
Unsafe conditions – has the house been safety proofed – Proper stove use
Falls or injury
Wandering from the home
Uncontrolled psychosis
State of worry when alone – anxiety, chronic worry, depression
------------------------
Frequently calling family or neighbors (using as external memory) asking what to do.
Poorly controlled incontinence.
Exploitation by others.
-------------------
You also have to consider the persons quality of life. Are they just sitting in front to the TV all day. Would they do better in an environment with other people and planned activities"

I am sorry for your situation,but I feel compelled to tell you that if your dad is wandering away from his home and neighbors have to bring him back he is PAST the point of being able to live alone.Think of how confused he must be if he cannot find his way home!

If he is living alone you MUST do something NOW!!

If he is living with you then the deadbolts,bracelet,etc. are good ideas.

If you think you're dad is still "pretty good" when he CANNOT find his way home I am wondering what you would consider bad. I don't mean this to sound mean but your Dad is NOT "still pretty good". And I am sorry to say it doesn't get better, it gets worse.

PLEASE get him situated where he will be safe.He cannot take care of himself properly if he is not able to find his way home. Try to imagine how compromised his brain, and thought processes are. I am sorry for you and your Dad.This disease sucks...no two ways about it. Sandy