When we moved my elderly parents from Florida to Texas one of the things that we worried about was Dad wondering out of the house here in Texas. Since Dad couldn't be home alone, right after Mom had her stroke, we had a system where each of the kids and a few other relatives would take a turn to stay with Dad at their home in Florida, a week at a time, and to make sure things were ok at the nursing home. A few times when my sister, Joan, was "on duty" with Dad, Joan was awakened by Dad hollering for Mom outside of their home at 2 am. He would just stand outside and yell "Eleanore, Eleanore, where are you?" We decided that Dad wondering off could be an issue for our family. We didn't want Dad running off from the house in Texas and not be able to find his way home. On one family vacation on St. George Island, Fl, an elderly man in a house across the street, left the rental home and was wandering the island. They finally found him, but the family of the elderly man was so upset.

Since our elderly parent had a bit of dementia and tended to wander around the home, our solution was to get a wind chime and put it on the door, so when the door opens the chime ring. This is an inexpensive way to have an audible signal that someone is leaving or arriving. There are many other ways of monitoring your elder's whereabouts, but an alarm system is very expensive. A wind chime is just a few bucks. The wind chime also acted as a door alarm when Dad was bedridden and our staff would be back in the bedroom with him and one of us would come in, they would know that there was someone there and not be surprised. Remember, in Asia, windchimes are considered good luck and a part of Feng Shui!