Abstract
Wandering behaviors in dementia often become problematic in terms of the safety of the patient. In response to this, some facilities have established locked units in an effort to protect the patients. This, however, severely limits the freedom, autonomy and ability of the patients to maximize their own potential. The purpose of this experimental study is to evaluate how persons with severe dementia perceive physical barriers and visual barriers, and how these barriers might be used to re-route patients away from potentially hazardous areas. Two types of barriers were used: (1) physical barriers, which were actual obstructions, blocking the pathway, and (2) visual barriers, which implied barriers in the pathway. The surveys were conducted in two parts: Study 1: Physical barriers Six subjects with severe dementia were directed to walk through an experimental path with a fork in it, under six different settings. The barriers were put on the path under both bright and shadowy conditions. In the majority of cases, re-routing was accomplished in response to the barriers. The re-routing was significantly related to the number of barriers, and to the visibility of the route. Study 2: Visual barriers Two subjects were analyzed under conditions both with visual barriers, and without visual barriers. The visual barriers consisted of colored tape placed on the floor, and a covering placed on a glass door. The results of this study were that the subjects changed their wandering routes in response to the visual barriers. We infer that these barriers could be effective in re-routing patients away from safety hazards.
