For people with dementia, a behaviour known as critical wandering can quickly lead to devastating consequences. Unable to reorient themselves, these people are at risk of harm from critical injuries to fatalities. A recent project aims to address the risk of people with dementia going missing by first gaining a better understanding of the factors associated with critical wandering and a subsequent missing incident.
"Critical wandering a term that is being continually revisited because it is controversial and not accepted in some areas such as the U.K. due to associated stigma is when you are disoriented in time and space," explains Antonio Miguel-Cruz, an associate professor in the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine and U of A lead on the project. "You don't know where you are, you are disoriented, and as a result you're not able to find your way home or back to where you started your journey."
The project, conducted in collaboration with the University of Waterloo, is the first of its kind to examine various Canadian data sets documenting missing incidents due to critical wandering. The insights from this work are critical for developing targeted tools and prevention strategies that can be used by everyone from police and first responders to community members and other organizations that interact with people with dementia.
