Distractions or small changes to the environment can be disorientating and cause dementia patients to become lost, even in familiar surroundings. Such cases make up a large proportion of the 300,000 people reported missing to the police each year, according to the Alzheimer’s Society. With funding from the charity, University of Edinburgh researchers are interviewing dementia patients and their carers to work out how they navigate their way around.
PhD student Katie Gambier-Ross has already found that many use landmarks such as a local shop or church. However small changes, such as new scaffolding, can spark confusion.
She said: “Everybody’s experience is different but there are certain themes that keep coming up. I’m hoping to co-produce a search guide with Police Scotland. If police are trying to retrace the steps of someone, they need to put themselves in the shoes of that person.
“If they don’t really understand their thinking, they can’t do that.
“They need to know what might have led someone to take a different route or become disorientated.”
Ms Gambier-Ross is also considering the ethical balance between letting someone with dementia be independent and keeping them safe.
She said: “I’m interested in how these experiences affect people’s independence, their sense of identity.”
Dr James Pickett, head of research at the Alzheimer’s Society, said fears that dementia patients may go missing may mean they never leave the house, and are left “isolated”.
He explained: “This study could help combat those fears and result in developing methods to enable people with dementia to go out and stay safe.”
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