Care recipient (cr) has wandered off and the caregiver (cg) doesn’t know where to start looking for him or her

Try: Check dangerous areas near the home such as bodies of water open stairwells dense wooded areas tunnels bus stops high balconies and heavily traveled roads look within a one-mile radius of where the cr was before they wandered off look within one hundred feet of a road most wanderers start out on roads and stay close by look carefully in bushes and ditches the cr may have fallen or gotten stuck search in the direction of the cr’s dominant hand people usually travel first in their dominant direction look in places that are familiar to the cr likeplaces the cr used to live or work or favorite spots like a nearby park or ball field often wanderers have a particular destination in mind if the cg suspects that the cr used a car or public transportation to leave think of likely places to search that are farther away if the cr tends to wander off at a particular time of day or day of the week try to distract the cr with an activity try to replace the pattern of wandering off with a regular exercise routine

Materials: n/a

Categories: Behavior Challenging, Cognitive Intellectual, Emotional Psychological, Maintenance, Medical Physical, Mobility, Mobile, Some Supervision, Maximum Supervision, Somewhat Aware, Unaware

Information: n/a

References: Adapted from doug russell suzanne barston and monika white 2007 alzheimer’s behavior management managing common symptoms and problems available at

Keywords: Lost wanders wanders off wandering

*This information is listed as a Tip and is not explicitly medically licensed

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