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Memory changes & dementia care
When memory loss is the main worry, the question is no longer how much physical help someone needs. A person can be strong and able to walk, and still not be safe alone. That changes which places and which tools make sense.
Wandering, and the 15-minute rule
The Alzheimer's Association says six in ten people living with dementia will wander at least once, and many do it again and again.[1] It is common enough that you should have a plan before the day you need it.
Warning signs it lists include coming back from a regular walk or drive later than usual, wanting to "go home" while already at home, and being restless, pacing or making the same movements over and over.[1]
Steps it suggests include putting deadbolts out of the line of sight, high or low, on outside doors. It also suggests warning bells above doors or a device that signals when a door opens.[1]
If the person is missing: start looking right away. The Association says many people who wander are found within 1.5 miles of where they went missing. It also says people tend to head in the direction of the hand they use most. If you do not find them within 15 minutes, call 911 and file a missing person report.[1] Keep a current photo and a note of what they usually wear where you can grab it in a hurry.
What trackers can and cannot do
Location-sharing apps and wearable GPS devices, such as watches and shoe inserts, can help. The Alzheimer's Association is also blunt about the limits: "No location tracking system is 100% accurate. Some devices don't work well inside buildings." Some can only show the general area a person is in, and weather can get in the way. Its most useful sentence is the plainest one: "Location tracking is not the same as having a 24-hour companion."[2]
So treat a device as one part of a safety plan, along with other steps. It is not the thing that lets everyone stop worrying. Our Essentials list covers door alarms, day clocks and automatic pill dispensers. Technology that helps without hovering goes into more detail.
Picking a place takes an assessment, not a rule
An earlier version of this page said a locked memory-care unit is often the safer answer when a person wanders or is confused. We took it out. It reads like advice, and we could not find a source that backs it up as a general rule.
What we can stand behind is this. When wandering, aggression or other behavior makes home unsafe, that is the time to get a professional assessment. It should compare the real choices: home with more help, regular assisted living, memory care built for dementia, and nursing care. Many assisted-living communities and nursing homes have their own memory-care units. They differ a lot from one another in staffing and in what behavior they will accept.
Our directory lets you find and compare licensed facilities and see their public records. It cannot tell you which one suits this person.
You do not have to decide alone
"Is it time?" is the question families go over and over. A doctor or nurse, a hospital discharge planner, or a counselor at an Area Agency on Aging can help lay out the choices. They will also consider the caregiver's own situation, which often gets left out. Be clear about who does what. An Area Agency on Aging explains your choices and helps you find your way. It does not make the medical decision about where someone should live.[3]
Free local help. Your Area Agency on Aging will talk through your choices with you for free. Find yours through the federal Eldercare Locator at 1-800-677-1116 or eldercare.acl.gov (run by the Administration for Community Living).[3] The Alzheimer's Association also runs a free 24-hour helpline at 800-272-3900.[4] To learn about the four kinds of local helpers, see Who helps me locally.
Sources and what they support
Sources checked 2026-09-19 using AI-assisted editorial research. This is a source check, not a clinical review.
- Alzheimer's Association, wandering. Supports the six-in-ten figure and that many wander repeatedly, the warning signs quoted, the deadbolt and door-bell precautions, that many people who wander are found within 1.5 miles, that patterns generally follow the dominant hand, and the instruction to call 911 if the person is not found within 15 minutes. This is dementia-care guidance from the disease's main US advocacy organisation, not trial evidence, and none of the precautions is shown to prevent wandering in a given household.
- Alzheimer's Association, technology safety for older adults. Supports that location-sharing apps and wearable GPS devices can help, the quoted limitations on accuracy and indoor performance, that some systems give only a general vicinity and weather can interfere, and the statement that location tracking is not the same as having a 24-hour companion. Guidance statements rather than measured outcomes; the page does not compare products and does not address consent, which is worth thinking about separately when tracking an adult.
- Administration for Community Living, Eldercare Locator. Supports the referral route to a local Area Agency on Aging for free options counselling. An Area Agency on Aging navigates options; it does not assess capacity, diagnose, or decide placement, and what any given agency offers varies locally.
- Alzheimer's Association helpline. Supports the number 800-272-3900, that it is free and staffed 24 hours a day. It offers information, referral and support, not clinical care or a placement decision.
Removed in this pass, for want of a source: that a secure memory-care setting is often the safer answer when wandering or confusion is present. Safety guidance supports planning, precautions and tools. It does not prescribe a setting.