California Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog
What is wandering?
Wandering is an aimless action that elderly people with dementia can sometimes engage in. Someone who is wandering is not specifically looking for an exit, but rather to move around. If they do exit a skilled nursing or assisted living facility, it is because they chanced upon an exit and walked out, or were aided by someone misinformed but with good intentions.
Wandering is common in nursing homes: “Thirty six percent of community dwellers and sixty five percent of nursing home residents wander” (Smith, M., Schultz, S., Great Escapes: The wandering dilemma. The University of Iowa Geriatric Education, Iowa city, IA, www.mediciantuiowa.edu/igec/). Wandering may eventually lead to elopement, so the wanderer should be treated as a risk for elopement unless there is evidence that this is not a risk.
