Door Locks for Dementia Patients: Keeping Your Loved Ones from Wandering Away from Home

Wandering and disorientation are prevalent experiences for people living with dementia. And the thought of a loved one with dementia wandering away from home in the middle of the night can be terrifying.

As a caregiver, your primary goal is the safety and well-being of your loved one with dementia, and your peace of mind is just as important.

One of the best lines of defense to keep your loved one from wandering outside the home is to install specialized dementia door locks. In this article, we’ll discuss various door locks that can keep your loved one with dementia safe.

An important thing to consider when installing locks is to place them high or low on the doors that exit the home. You want them installed out of the line of sight of your loved one. Also, you should never leave a person with dementia unsupervised in new or changed surroundings and never lock a person in at home.

As a caregiver of someone with dementia, remember to select activities and items that align with the person’s safety needs. Consider any potential dangers, such as choking hazards or objects that could restrict their circulation, and choose activities and items that work best for them and accommodate their tendencies.

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Home Door Locks For The Wandering Dementia Patient

The Loswsdg Safety Door Lock

For caregivers worried about their loved ones opening the door to walk outside, the Loswsdg top door locks might be a fitting choice to help alleviate those fears.

As mentioned earlier, locks located out of the line of sight of the wandering person with dementia are ideal. This lock fits the bill for that criteria.

This adjustable sliding door lock rests on top of the door and slides back and forth to lock and unlock the door.

And unlike some other top door locks on the market, this one is made of a strong and durable metal, not plastic.

Prevents People With Alzheimer's From Wandering Out Of The Home

For seniors with dementia, the locking device is out of sight and keeps them safe. For the caregiver, it’s peace of mind, and the lock is just an arm’s length away when needing to open the door. This lock fits on various house doors that you can view when you follow the link to the product.

Loswsdg Safety Door Lock Made of Durable Metal

The Loswsdg Safety Door Lock

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The Defender Security U 10827 Door Reinforcement Lock

This lock’s primary function is to reinforce doors to prevent break-ins from home intruders. The lock can withstand 800 pounds of force to help prevent doors from being kicked in by a criminal outside the house.

So why is this lock being mentioned for safeguarding wandering dementia patients inside the house?

Because it can also be a helpful lock for the caregiver to install to keep your loved ones from wandering outside the home.

This lock should be mounted as high as possible to keep children or visitors in your house from accidentally unlocking the device. This precaution for mounting it high is crucial because unlocking the lock is easily achieved by spinning it away from the door.

Defender Security U 10827 Door Reinforcement Lock To Keep Dementia Patients From Wandering

The Defender Security U 10827 Door Reinforcement Lock

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Safety 1st Secure Mount Deadbolt Lock

One last item I’d like to cover is the Safety 1st Secure Mount Deadbolt Lock. This device fits over the inside thumb-turn knob of a deadbolt. Its purpose is to help stop the knob from being turned to open the door to keep children safe inside the house.

Be advised that this item’s design is for toddlers. Therefore, the effectiveness of this device on an individual with dementia will depend on the extent of their cognitive decline. Also, as mentioned earlier, optimally, you want your locks to be out of the line of sight for the person with dementia.

With these two advisable factors in mind, I’d rank the safety level of this device below the other previous locking mechanisms in this article. With that said, this device does seem like a decent adjunct level of security to help safeguard deadbolt locks from being easily opened. Therefore, I added this device as a discretionary item for your consideration.