My Father in-law has dementia and was moved into a memory care facility. He's constantly trying to get out. Any suggestions?

"agitated when they stop him, and tell him he must comeback inside"

How does he get outside. A MC facility should be locked down. He shouldn't be able to get out of the building. Wanting to leave goes with Dementia. To him, he is in a strange place. Its going to take him more than a month to adjust.

The signs on all the doors say hold in for 10 seconds and you can open the door/gate. He is able to read that and does what it says. When you ask him about it of course he does not realize he has done anything wrong. My main concern is that they are going to say he has to leave. Thank tou

Sounds like the MC needs to change their procedures to work with residents that can still read. This is not your FIL's fault, this is the MC's problem. Since wandering is a very well known feature of dementia, any medication that would diminish his escapes would most likely be a "restraint" that knocks FIL out and is viewed with disfavor or is outright illegal in many to most states. Is FIL agitated other than when caught during an escape attempt? Medication for general agitation may help some with his reaction to being caught but I doubt it will prevent him from wandering.

What does FIL's contract say about reasons a resident can be asked to leave? Somehow, I doubt that wandering is a justifiable cause for expulsion from a MC. Are you concerned about his agitation when caught? Does he become aggressive toward the staff or other residents? If can just open the doors again, what is the MC staff doing to contain him after he's back inside? Are their actions the cause of FIL's agitation?

During my father's 3+ years in MC, dementia residents had "episodes" where they were agitated and verbally aggressive toward staff who were trying to get them to do something or stop doing something. Sometimes residents would knock over table items or even the table itself. They would yell "don't touch me" too. The MC had procedures to rotate the staff and get the resident back into their room where a staff member stayed with them until the resident calmed down. Sometimes the resident would be locked in their room for a few hours following an episode if activities in the common room seemed to be contributing to his/her agitation. If these episodes were repeated with some frequency, the MC would request a review of the resident's medications to see if some anti-anxiety meds would help. If a resident physically attacked a person, then (as the contract stated) that would result in temporary transfer to a psychiatric facility until medications were balanced to reduce their anxiety/agitation level before returning to the MC.

MC is for dementia patients and others with memory deficits so bad their daily living is impacted. It's normal for your FIL to have some problems adjusting and for his medications to be changed in his new environment. It's normal for the MC staff to become knowledgeable of your FIL's triggers and habits. I have only known of someone being kicked out of MC when the family wouldn't cooperate with the MC's standing procedures or when the person needed NH level of care. Usually the MC staff works with the family to get things working for the resident. My suggestion would be to listen carefully to the staff suggestions/requests and comply with any reasonable request.