My 83 year old mother with Alzheimer's moved in with my family and I about two months ago. She was living with part-time caregivers and at night she was starting to go outside. We couldn't afford overnight caregivers, so she moved in with us. We remain concerned about her wandering. We had a double key lock installed on the front door. One of us is there almost all of the time, but once in a while we need an outside caregiver to fill in for us for a few hours. When the outside caregiver visits, mother tries to go out the front door and is getting frustrated with the double key lock. Any suggestions?
We have been trying to get the door alarm set up, and also tried to get GPS shoes set up but we have had a hard time with the GPS shoes.
Another thing you could try, for nighttime, is a bed alarm. This is a pad that you can put under the sheets/mattress pad that senses her weight. If she gets up, the alarm will sound, letting you know she's gotten out of bed. This might disrupt your sleep if she gets up at night just to go to the bathroom or pace around, but you might try it if it would give you peace of mind.
Has the caregiver asked her what she wants to do when she goes out? Maybe she's afraid of being alone with a stranger. Or maybe she's looking for you. Knowing why she wants to go outside when you're gone will help you figure out what to do about it.
Does your paid caregiver have experience with dementia patients? Maybe they can work harder to redirect her attention from the front door. Maybe you can give her a task to do while you're gone, like sorting socks or old photos. The caregiver could remind her of that and help her back to it.
So now we have key-only locks on both outside doors and I wear the key on a lanyard around my neck. On the rare occasions someone stays with her, they wear the key.
As back-up, just in case a door is left open by accident and she gets out, Mom has attached to her ankle a tracking device loaned to us by the local Sheriff's Office. If she goes missing we can call them to find her. Range is about a mile and a half, so we should be okay unless (God forbid) she got in someone's car.
The locked doors used to be a source of severe frustration for Mom and she would get herself all worked up, going from door to door and rattling the knobs. The agitation and aggression got so bad that I finally took her doctor's advice and put her on meds. This has been a big improvement for both of us.
Blessings to you and yours as you struggle with this issue.