My father had a recent physical decline, hospitalization, rehab, and has been scheduled to come home Thursday. I am happy his physical strength has returned, it make caregiving much easier when your not lifting them 2. My question, is there a safe way to "contain" or "lock" dad in the house or even his room at night? Or is this an "act" in care giving that could get me in trouble? He has sundowners, not even the nurses can keep him in bed, he is full blown stage 6 with hallunications, anxiety, anger, and has even left the house at 3am to get the mail. Has anyone found anything that works?!
I have read how some people have installed some kind of beam that alerts the caregiver when their loved one gets up and passes thru their bedroom door. There are all kinds of alerts that you can install in the bedroom, and extra locks for doors leading outside of the house. Locking the bedroom door sounds dangerous to me. Kind of "iffy" as in leaning towards "elder abuse." But that's My point of view.
Unfortunately if the wandering is a nightly event, he cannot be left to wander, and you cannot be attending every night as you need your sleep. In my opinion, nightly wandering starts to necessitate 24 hour (on the job)attendance, you may need an overnight caretaker or to consider a facility.
I would instead explore motion sensors that alert when he crosses the threshold of his bedroom, as well as additional sensors along the path to the exterior doors so that if you don't hear one sensor, there are additional backups to alert you before he gets outside.
You might also consult with the fire department to see what they would recommend.
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