My wife with ALS has wandered off and become lost a few times and been brought back or took to the local hospital by police. I feel I need to restrict her movements for her own safety by locking doors but is it illegal to restrict her right to freedom? Is it illegal imprisonment? I am her caregiver but I must sleep sometime and she is smart enough to take advantage. I can't watch her 24/7. An alarm warning me that she has opened a door is just another form of imprisonment and depriving her of her right to freedom. Do I have any rights to force her to stay in our house? If I continue to allow her freedom and wanderings can I be charged with her neglect? Do I just continue to let the police bring her back? I feel very bad when she is crying and pleading with me to 'please let me out' or 'let me go home'.
Perhaps the doctors can find something that can help her sleep through the night. That would be the ideal solution. I don't think wandering around the house or the neighborhood is particularly pleasant for someone with Alzheimer's. I could be wrong, but it seems that way to me.
www.agingcare.com/questions/lock-wondering-dementia-dad-room-at-night-158142.htm
www.agingcare.com/questions/is-it-illegal-to-lock-a-person-in-a-house-when-they-might-wander-171797.htm