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6 in ten people with dementia will wander

Wandering and getting lost is common among people with dementia and can happen during any stage of the disease.

A person with Alzheimer's may not remember his or her name or address, and can become disoriented, even in familiar places. Wandering among people with dementia is dangerous.

The project aims to design an home product  to help those suffering from memory loss caused by Alzheimer's disease. 

The device served as a "door lock". Traditionally, to prevent the patient from wandering, caregiver usually locked the patient inside when they need to step out for a while. However, this method does not usually work as the patient sometimes, despite their memory lost, can somehow figure out how to open the lock, and they may become more anxious. Also, the idea of locking the patient inside is against their dignity despite of the fact that the lock is to protect them. 

My approach, rather then using a physical lock, is to install an simple motion detector on the door, when the patient tries to leave the room, it sends a signal to the "grandma phone" which was designed as something from their childhood. When the phone rang, the patient either pick it up because of habit, or the loud noice will annoy them. Either way, when the phone was picked up, it will play an recording that can be pre-recorded by someone they still remember. 

When the phone was not picked up, it will send a message to the caregiver's phone to remind them that the patient is wandering out.