Wandering can occur in tandem

Residents Team-up and Wander Away from Aged Care Facility

Fortunately, a vigilant visitor to an Aged Care facility alerted staff to the unnoticed disappearance of two of its residents. The two residents, an elderly man and a woman, had slipped out of the facility and were busy asking pedestrians on the footpath outside the facility the way to a distant facility.

Both were nicely dressed and seemed sure of what they were doing. The visitor had only notified staff just in case they were residents. 
Immediately on being told this information, a staff member went outside to check if the couple were in fact residents. The staff member found the couple happily walking arm in arm away from the facility.

The couple did not recognise the staff member and told her in a very positive and coherent manner that they were heading for another suburb. They did not remember that they lived at the facility. The staff member suggested that tea was about to be served and why didn't they come back and have that, then maybe they could take a walk later. The couple agreed and were returned to the facility before anyone had missed them.

This case study shows how quickly residents can go missing. In the 45 minutes that it had taken for them to leave and return, nobody else in the facility had noted their absence. 

Identified areas of concern

1. Even in attentive, secure facilities, people with dementia can be innovative and manage to evade the security measures.
2. Sometimes it is only a combination of alert staff and luck that prevents a very stressful ‘missing person’ episode.