My Dad left the house at 5 am thinking he had to be somewhere. Then rang the doorbell to get back in. We didn’t know he had left his bed, let alone the house.
Yes, this is what we did with my MIL, who wandered.
https://www.amazon.com/Security-Childproof-Reinforcement-Withstand-Nightlock/dp/B07MG4KR7G was put on the front door.
She was an enfeebled old women who couldn't reach it. But it might also confound an elderly male with dementia, because it is hard to open even if you do know how to open it, especially if it is out of easy reach.
Another possibility is a deadbolt lock that locks from the inside. You could tell your parent that you are afraid of crime and are upgrading your security.
If an elderly person is wandering they cannot live on their own anymore regardless of how well their home has been elder-proofed (same as baby-proofed only for old people).
The options are:
1) Move the elder into a locked memory care facility.
2) Bring in 24-hour caregiving services into the elder's home. Or move the elder in with family. In either scenario whatever home the wandering elder is moved to every door and window has to be fitted with locks that do not open without a key. Or the elder's bedroom door has to be locked from the outside. Outside grates over the bedroom windows too if needs be. I had an elderly client years ago who was a wanderer. She was super fit physically, but her mind was shot from dementia. She lived with her daughter who used to lock her bedroom door from the outside at night. The woman crawled out the window. I asked the daughter why she didn't put her mother's bedroom on the second floor, and it was because she would regularly crawl out of the window at night. Then some neighbor going to work or putting their kids on the bus in the morning would find her and bring her back. Or she'd knock on someone's door and say she was locked out of her house. I remember telling her that her mother getting out and potentially getting hurt wasn't the only terrible thing that could happen. There was a first-story window left open in at night that a 80-year-old could get out of. Who or what can get in? The daughter also had a husband and three kids living there. Her answer was she wasn't worried for the family because they had security cameras and the husband had a gun. She was unaware that criminals also have them and a fat lot of good a security camera does when everyone is sound asleep. One morning I was heading to their house and I found her walking up the sidewalk in nothing but a soiled Depend and a t-shirt. I called her daughter to come and pick her up because I would not put her in my car. I was able tptalk them into getting metal security grates put over the first-floor windows in her mother's bedroom. They only agreed because I told them that I'm obligated to report the incident to the police and APS but that I wouldn't if they got it done. They had child safety locks put that day and then the grates. Sure the mother was angry because she was literally locked down at night like jail. It was that or go to memory care. Those are about the only two choices.
Yes, a small slide lock up high would be good. A 'hook and eye' closure along the top is good too. Many seniors don't think to look up, and don't explain it to him.
My sister and I worried about this went to local aging resource center.... Easiest solution for us would be a locked memory care unit. If he won't or financial issues.. can put sensors on doors that alert when opened. Cameras iin home. In bad cases u can have a chip installed in person just like a pet... I have gotten my dad a fall alert necklace that I hope I can get him to use that has GPS tracking. Dad still drives, it was suggested here I could put a location device in car.. make sure u have an updated photo of him in case u need to do a silver alert for him.
https://www.amazon.com/Security-Childproof-Reinforcement-Withstand-Nightlock/dp/B07MG4KR7G was put on the front door.
She was an enfeebled old women who couldn't reach it. But it might also confound an elderly male with dementia, because it is hard to open even if you do know how to open it, especially if it is out of easy reach.
Another possibility is a deadbolt lock that locks from the inside. You could tell your parent that you are afraid of crime and are upgrading your security.
The options are:
1) Move the elder into a locked memory care facility.
2) Bring in 24-hour caregiving services into the elder's home. Or move the elder in with family. In either scenario whatever home the wandering elder is moved to every door and window has to be fitted with locks that do not open without a key. Or the elder's bedroom door has to be locked from the outside. Outside grates over the bedroom windows too if needs be.
I had an elderly client years ago who was a wanderer. She was super fit physically, but her mind was shot from dementia. She lived with her daughter who used to lock her bedroom door from the outside at night. The woman crawled out the window. I asked the daughter why she didn't put her mother's bedroom on the second floor, and it was because she would regularly crawl out of the window at night. Then some neighbor going to work or putting their kids on the bus in the morning would find her and bring her back. Or she'd knock on someone's door and say she was locked out of her house. I remember telling her that her mother getting out and potentially getting hurt wasn't the only terrible thing that could happen. There was a first-story window left open in at night that a 80-year-old could get out of. Who or what can get in? The daughter also had a husband and three kids living there. Her answer was she wasn't worried for the family because they had security cameras and the husband had a gun. She was unaware that criminals also have them and a fat lot of good a security camera does when everyone is sound asleep.
One morning I was heading to their house and I found her walking up the sidewalk in nothing but a soiled Depend and a t-shirt. I called her daughter to come and pick her up because I would not put her in my car. I was able tptalk them into getting metal security grates put over the first-floor windows in her mother's bedroom. They only agreed because I told them that I'm obligated to report the incident to the police and APS but that I wouldn't if they got it done. They had child safety locks put that day and then the grates. Sure the mother was angry because she was literally locked down at night like jail.
It was that or go to memory care. Those are about the only two choices.
A small slide lock placed up high on the door fixed that.