If you have a parent or other elderly loved one in a nursing home or other residential care facility, you likely know that understaffing is one of the key factors that can lead to a lack of proper care. That care includes ensuring that resident don’t leave the facility on their own.
That’s called “elopement,” and it can result in serious injury or worse. According to the National Institute for Elopement Prevention and Resolution (NIEPR), elopement is when someone “leaves a caregiving facility or environment unsupervised, unnoticed, and/or prior to their scheduled discharge.”
Elopement is not the same as wandering
It’s often used interchangeably by those who don’t know any better with “wandering.” While wandering can also be dangerous, and should be prevented, it involves someone remaining on the property but being somewhere they shouldn’t be – like in an equipment room or stockroom where they can get into dangerous or toxic items.
Elopement is more purposeful than wandering. Generally, a resident who elopes intends to go somewhere. They may be trying to go home or even to a place where they lived in the past.
Not all residents who elope are suffering from dementia
While people with dementia and other cognitive impairments are the most likely residents to elope, a change in someone’s medication can cause them to become confused about where they are and to try to leave. So could a traumatic event, like an attack. Elopement is most likely to occur in the early days of resident’s stay in a facility when they’re most likely going to try to go home.
Nursing homes have a duty to prevent residents from eloping. That includes having doors that are alarmed or require codes or other security measures to open. All doors to the outside should be monitored by surveillance cameras. Outdoor gates should be secured. They should also have procedures in place for all staff to follow as soon as someone is reported missing.
Nursing home residents who elope – especially those with cognitive impairments – can all too easily be hit by a car, become the victim of violence or be seriously harmed or even killed by the elements.
If a loved one eloped from a facility, it’s crucial to find out how it happened and consider whether you feel safe with them in that facility. If they suffered harm or worse, it’s wise to get legal guidance to determine what your options are for getting justice and compensation.