A well meant suggestion I'm sure. But the establishments in question (EMI =Elderly Mentally Impaired) whilst having better security cater for inmates in a far worse mental state than a normal residential home. If the relative was EMI in a residential home it would be obvious.
Visiting some of these EMI homes my wife was appalled at the general "Bedlam" atmosphere with many inmates contnually shreiking, crying, and making animal noises *all the time*. Problems with near universal incontinence meant that all carpets had to be washed every single day.
No criticism intended whatsoever BTW. The state does not care for people in this condition any more it falls onto private providers. In our heart of hearts we all know that such places have to exist.
On a lighter note.
Many regular residential homes maintain a more secure wing for residents who exhibit "wandering" behaviour but who aren't "EMI". Eventually we found a decent residential home place for father in law with mechanical digital locks on the entrance door and experienced staff whom he liked.
There is a system you could experiment with for free/ little cost if you have access to a spare mobile phone. see:
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the tracked subject will need to be carrying a fully charged and switched on and connected GSM mobile phone (but beyond that doesn't have to participate actively in the tracking process). I can't see that will be easy to arrange.
I was trying to keep things to a level you might comprehend.
What significance? Alzheimer, and a range of vascular dementias often mistakenly labelled Alzheimer, are progressive illnesses which have a wide variety and range of severity of symptoms which get worse with time. The lady concerned might have been in a residential home and only recently developed symptoms of dementia, she might be in a nursing home and badly afflicted. From the original posting it is not possible to tell, there is no such creature as "An Old Folks Home". Moreover, contrary to what you said, the local council have had no inspection responsibility for either nursing or residential homes for several years, it is a Commission for Social Care Inspection responsibility.
"When you have met one person with Alzheimers you have met one person with Alzheimers" (Castelmans "There is still a person in there").
The idea that you can tell what a persons condition and capabilities will be simply by knowing they have been labelled "Alzheimers" is on a par with wanting all people who use wheelchairs to be called cripples and kept in institutes "where they will be safe".
Wondering off can occur quite early when the person involved often has quite a lot of faculties intact. An early stage sufferer said :- "When the darkness and emptiness fill my mind it is terrifying. I cannot think my way out of it. It stays there and sometimes images stay stuck in my mind. Thoughts increasingly haunt me. The only way I can break this cycle is to move, to walk, no matter where or when, I just need to walk."
A late elderly neighbour of ours regularly decided to go to the cinema in Paris (a bit of a walk from here) and would toddle off at all hours of the day and night. If it was during the day someone usually spotted her, walked with her for a time or collected her in their car and took her for a drive for a mile or so before asking if she enjoyed the film. If it was at night the police got quite used to doing the same trick. She would then quite happily explain what she had seen and was content to go home. Early in the illness she otherwise behaved perfectly normally and could manage her life and hold an intelligent conversation with people (somewhat better in fact than you seem able to do).
As time went on her condition deteriorated and she moved to a dual registered home where staff worked hard to keep her as active as possible. This involved giving her as much freedom as they could and, as she had always been a very keen gardener, allowing her free access to the gardens and lawns. At times this involved her getting out for a trip to the cinema again, because even when quite badly affected she could easily fool visitors or tradesmen into opening gates for her.
Undoubtedly the staff could have taken a safer approach and locked her in her room, many might well have. Fortunately they didn't and she was able to spend her last few years in a world of her own with her dignity preserved.
A very good discussion on wandering and things to do to minimise it can be found in Stokes "Challenging Behaviour in Dementia". From that book :- "A distressing feature of dementia care is to see people banging at windows, persistently pulling at door handles or forlornly standing at a gate they cannot open".
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