My precious father in law with Alzheimer's walk out of his home and was missing for 6 weeks. He walked out on September 17th and his body was found October 30th. He was found in the woods by hunters. Its was determined he most likely died the day he went missing. He deteriorated so quickly mentally but physically he was still strong. He was 80 yrs old. Please keep a close eye out for your loved ones with dementia. He lived with family members and still managed to walk away. We are so heartbroken and he deserved to die in a nice warm bed surrounded by those who love him. He deserver so much better then what happened to him. If our story will save just one person, it will be worth me sharing. Thank you and hold your loved one a little bit tighter tonight.
As a former geriatric social worker, I worked with this population and also experienced it in the family. There are many expensive safety devices on the market but honestly, we found the child proofing devices out there now were just as effective at a fraction of the cost. My daughter has covers for doorknobs that you have to squeeze to open, coves for the gas range knobs, etc. if there are two elderly people together perhaps this would not work, but it did in our case.
I wish I had the right words to say, but you have done a service calling other people's attention to this frightening and sad situation.
I noticed at my Mom's nursing home, some of the patients were wearing what looked like the size of a watch with a ban around their ankles. I have seen one patient, who was wearing one, does roam the hallways. I assumed it was some type of tracking device. With your story and using such a device saves one person that would be great.
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I'm so sorry for your loss but you have to consider what he might have wanted, not what you wanted.