| Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools. |
A Framework for Managing Wandering and Preventing Elopement
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: Dorothy.Moore4{at}va.gov.
Purpose of the Study: A framework aids choice of interventions to manage wandering and prevent elopement in consideration of associated risks and mobility needs of wanderers. Design and Methods: A literature review, together with research results, published wandering tools, clinical reports, author clinical experience, and consensus-based judgments was used to build a decision-making framework. Results: Referencing a published definition of wandering and originating a clinical description of problematic wandering, authors introduce a framework comprising (1) wandering and related behaviors; (2) goals of wandering-specific care, (3) interpersonally, technologically, and policy-mediated wandering interventions, and (4) estimates of relative frequencies of wandering behaviors, magnitudes of elopement risk, and restrictiveness of strategies. Implications: Safeguarding wanderers from elopement risk is rendered person-centered and humane when goals of care guide intervention choice. Despite limitations, a reasoned, systematized approach to wandering management provides a basis for tailoring a specialized program of care. The need for framework refinement and related research is emphasized.
First published on April 8, 2009, doi:10.1177/1533317509332625 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||