Strategies used by people with Alzheimer's disease for outdoor wayfinding: A repeated observational study

This study aimed to describe the wayfinding strategies used during outdoor walks by people with Alzheimer's disease. Inspired by an ethnographic approach, observations and conversations during repeated outdoor walks with five people with Alzheimer's disease living in their own homes were conducted. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The wayfinding strategies the participants described were: (1) landmarks, (2) used their senses, (3) stopped, looked around, and thought, (4) walking the same way or loop and in familiar areas, and (5) only walked in places and on routes where they could see other people and houses. Using wayfinding strategies might help people with Alzheimer's disease to be independent during outdoor walks, and discussing these strategies with relatives and nursing care staff may help finding people with Alzheimer's disease if lost outdoors. Wayfinding during the winter might be facilitated if temporary and changeable objects are avoided in people with Alzheimer's disease's walking route.