Description of the behaviour of wandering in people with dementia living in nursing homes - a review of the literature

Abstract

Aim: The aim of the international literature review is the clarification of wandering as a behaviour of people with dementia in nursing homes. The term wandering often stigmatizes those affected. A clear definition and description of a phenomenon is an important basis for its operationalization.

Data sources: Three electronic databases were used. The keywords 'wandering', 'challenging behaviour', 'dementia', 'assessment' and 'long term care' including all associated terms, both singly and in combination, were used to identify articles published in English and German up to 2007.

Review methods: Abstracts of all papers found were screened and included if they focused on wandering and dementia in residential care settings. The content regarding definition and description of wandering from the 164 papers identified was summarized. As the aim of the study was to show the knowledge about the definition of wandering, a formal quality assessment of the studies was not conducted.

Findings: The literature shows a great number of definitions, descriptions and taxonomies for the term wandering, many of them based on older studies. The term is diffuse and is difficult to differentiate from other forms of behaviour such as agitation. Most of the more recent scientific publications come from the USA and support theoretically and empirically based suggestions for a scientific definition of wandering.

Conclusion: The debate about the behaviour of wandering shows clearly the importance of discussing intensively each type of behaviour associated with dementia. Challenging behaviour as such does not exist; it is a collective term for very different types of behaviour with various meanings. The same applies to wandering. At the moment there is no conclusive definition of wandering, there are no obvious causes for it and therefore no clear intervention recommendations; however, research has contributed towards defining and understanding this phenomenon.