A survey on wandering behavior management systems for individuals with dementia

Abstract

Alzheimer's and related dementia are associated with a gradual decline in cognitive abilities of an individual, impairing independent living abilities. Wandering, a purposeless disoriented locomotion tendency or behavior of dementia patients, requires constant caregiver supervision to reduce the risk of physical harm to patients. Integrating technology into care ecology has the potential to alleviate stress and expense. An automatic wandering detection system integrated with an intervention module may provide warnings and assistive suggestions in times of abnormal behavior. In this study, we survey existing research on technology aided methodologies and algorithms used in detection and management of wandering behavior of individuals affected with dementia. Our study provides insights into mechanisms of collecting movement data and finding patterns that distinguish wandering from normal behavior.