I have been faithfully reading all the message boards starting from the first and working my way to the most recent (I'm a long way off) but came across some older threads on securing doors...In my situation i had doors replaced and went to a double deadbolt lock (keyed both sides of door) however I was finding it somewhat troublesome particularily when I had respite workers here in that I always had to make sure they had a key and of course had to remember to get the key back from them before they left which was just one more thing to try to remember in a long list of daily things to remember or tend to....So I changed back to regular deadbolt locks and had a security alarm system installed and have a wonderfully annoying woman announcing "front door, patio door, garage door" etc depending on which one was opened...this works great but hearing "front door" at 4:30 am is not the way we want to start our day...Both of the above did of course cost money which for many is in short supply...Randomly my daughter brought over some safety "knobs" for the door so I wouldn't have to listen to my annoying alarm woman as often...it has an attachment shaped like the letter "C" that fits over the door knob (I have lever type instead of knob) and the door handle lever sticks out of the open part...there is a button on the side that is pushed in and slid upwards and when in this position prevents the handle from being turned...depending on the stage of your loved ones this could be a very inexpensive way to prevent spouses from getting out on their own without the expense of alarms etc...My daughter bought it I'm fairly certain at Walmart in the childrens department as a safety item but it works great is not too expensive and might be of some help to keep the wanderers safely inside
Larry would try to find the bathroom, but would go in the other direction and open the basement door or the door into the garage--both of which opened onto steps. (A full flight down to the cellar, and two steps down to the garage floor.) We put those plastic cups on the knobs...the ones that are sold for preventing children from opening the doors. Larry was far enough gone that he could not figure out the technique of squeezing the plastic to be able to open the doors...so it was a simple solution, didn't inconvenience the other adults, and kept him safe.
I think the kind of security device that is best is one that suits your lifestyle. Our lifestyle was always one in which we went outside (watering plants, gardening, puttering, listening to the birds) many times a day, except in winter. I was not willing to confine either myself or my husband to an indoor life. So I had to watch him very carefully during the day. For use after it got dark, I tried unsuccessfully to install some extra locks (which did not fit) at the top of the door frames. When that failed, I used a baby monitor and also a motion monitor, which were just OK. That's why I got the GPS tracker and set up the perimeter around the edge of the yard. But for some people, door locks and/or monitors would be a better choice.
Larry never, ever wandered. I think it was because he never liked to walk for pleasure. As a retired NY City police officer, he would always say, "I walked a beat in Harlem for seven years...that was enough for me." So that was one possible problem where I got lucky...never had to deal with it. The GPS tracker and yard perimeter is really an ingenious solution. I wish I had known about that when I was still nursing...I could have helped people with that idea. We always advised extra door locks of course...but as Myrtle said, it would confine people to the house instead of letting them safely go outdoors into their pleasant yards.
It was Garmin GPU-10. Bought on Amazon for $110, which included one year of tracking, and $50 per year thereafter. Designed to attach to a dog's collar. Used satellite to track but the device itself did not show the wearer's location. Location info was displayed remotely, sent to your computer and also sent to your cellphone via cell towers. Unfortunately it has been discontinued.
A similar device seems to be a Tagg GPS Plus pet tracker. Cost on Amazon is under $100 and monthly tracking fee looks low. Description say it allows you to set up a "geofence." Another inexpensive product is an Anti-Theft Spot Trace Item Finder (available on cebelas.com) but I'm not sure it allows you to set up a geofence.
Also, somewhere on the Alz Assn website, they recommend trackers but both the device and the monthly fee were much too expensive for us. There is also a tracking system (can't remember the name) for Alz patients that coordinates with local police departments but it's only available in a few places. Also, some GPS wrist and ankle bracelets are are sold to track autistic children but I don't know if they are big enough for adults.
Its called Project Lifesaver and is a program usually administered by the local sheriff's dept at low/no cost. DH was on it but kept breaking the "unbreakable" band even though it is made of plastic and we put it on his dominant side so it would be harder to break/cut off. The sheriff in charge of the program told me DH is the only person she's had in the program that was able to break the band (3X) with his bare hands.