Open AccessWhat do we know about strategies to manage dementia‐related wandering? A scoping review
Author(s) -
Neubauer Noelannah A.,
AzadKhaneghah Peyman,
MiguelCruz Antonio,
Liu Lili
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
alzheimer's and dementia: diagnosis, assessment and disease monitoring
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.497
H-Index - 37
ISSN - 2352-8729
DOI - 10.1016/j.dadm.2018.08.001
Subject(s) - psychological intervention , dementia , usability , psychology , medicine , computer science , psychiatry , disease , pathology , human–computer interaction
Three of five persons with dementia will wander, raising concern as to how it can be managed effectively. Wander‐management strategies comprise a range of interventions for different environments. Although technological interventions may help in the management of wandering, no review has exhaustively searched what types of high‐ and low‐technological solutions are being used to reduce the risks of wandering. In this article, we perform a review of gray and scholarly literature that examines the range and extent of high‐ and low‐tech strategies used to manage wandering behavior in persons with dementia. We conclude that although effectiveness of 49 interventions and usability of 13 interventions were clinically tested, most were evaluated in institutional or laboratory settings, few addressed ethical issues, and the overall level of scientific evidence from these outcomes was low. Based on this review, we provide guidelines and recommendations for future research in this field.