Abstract:

People with dementia often wander, at times putting themselves at risk and presenting challenges to carers. This has led to trials of visual and other selective barriers (such as mirrors, camouflage, grids/stripes of tape) that may reduce wandering. This review assesses the effect of subjective exit modifications on the wandering behaviour of cognitively impaired people. The participants are people with dementia or cognitive impairement who wander in any care environment - hospital, institution or their own home.The types of interventions used in this review include, patterns on floor or door (for example, grid, lines or bars), mirrors on doors, camouflage of door or doorknob, concealment of view through doors and windows. The review found no evidence that subjective barriers prevent wandering of cognitively impaired people.The study also states that subjective barriers may cause fear and anxiety in some patients.