When people have a loved one living in a nursing home or other care facility, they expect that there are safeguards in place to prevent them from leaving the premises on their own – which is known as “elopement.”
The National Institute for Elopement Prevention and Resolution (NIEPR), defines elopement as “when a patient or resident who is cognitively, physically, mentally, emotionally, and/or chemically impaired wanders away, walks away, runs away, escapes, or otherwise leaves a care-giving facility or environment unsupervised, unnoticed, and/or prior to their scheduled discharge.”
Even residents without cognitive impairment can elope from a facility if their medication affects their thinking – particularly if they’re new to a facility. People are at greatest risk of eloping within the first three days after moving in. Elopement is particularly dangerous because once someone is off the grounds, they can be hit by a car, become the victim of violence or succumb to the elements.
Elopement vs. wandering
These two terms are often (mistakenly) used interchangeably. Wandering, however, doesn’t involve leaving the property. For example, a resident may wander into a kitchen, storage room or into another person’s room without realizing where they are.
Wandering certainly can be dangerous because a person may end up in a room alone – potentially around toxic substances, equipment that could cause injury or without any grab bars or railings to keep them from falling.
Wandering is also less “purposeful” than elopement. A person who wanders is often just lost or exploring. A person who elopes typically is trying to get somewhere – even if it’s somewhere they know only from the past.
Facilities are responsible for preventing residents from eloping
All residential care facilities need to have safeguards in place to prevent elopement. These include doors and gates that require codes to open and have alarms. There should be plenty of surveillance cameras around the facility – indoors and outdoors. Further, there need to be protocols in place that all staff on trained in to respond immediately when someone is reported missing.
It’s important for families looking at care facilities to find out what they do to prevent elopement as well as wandering – and what steps they take if it happens. Of course, there’s no guarantee it won’t – particularly with the staffing shortages many facilities are experiencing. If a loved one has suffered harm or worse, it’s important to get legal guidance as soon as possible to determine how best to seek justice and compensation.