Floor patterns limit wandering of people with Alzheimer's

The safety of people with dementia who walk into potentially dangerous areas, or away from areas where they can be monitored, is a problem in psychiatric settings for older people. Current methods of controlling these patients usually involve physical interventions such as restraint, locked ward doors and sometimes medication. Such methods can be costly, counter-productive and take carers away from other work. It has been observed that patients with Alzheimer's disease appear to be affected by certain visual stimuli that do not affect the wandering of non-demented people or staff members. Such visual stimuli can be a simple two-dimensional grid pattern, which patients with Alzheimer's disease tend to perceive as a barrier. This effect is not usually seen in other types of dementia. Capitalising on this observation, black insulation tapes in two different grid configurations were laid out in an attempt to prevent these patients wandering through exit doors. Ten patients with differential diagnosis of dementia participated in this study. It was found that the use of a horizontal grid reduced exit door contact by up to 97% for four of these patients with a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. As had been predicted, the grid was less effective for patients with other types of dementia. Advantages and inherent dangers in this approach to managing hazardous walking by Alzheimer's patients are discussed.