Managing Elders’ Wandering Behavior Using Sensors-based Solutions: A Survey

Abstract

Wandering is one of the most frequent, problematic, and injurious behaviors of elderly people with dementia. It often leads to negative consequences such as falling and getting lost. With increasing proliferation of sensing, communication, and computing techniques, inexpensive technological solutions have been developed to tackle problems associated with wandering. In this article, we review field research and technological solutions on wandering in the context of assisted living for the elderly. Specifically, we present the most cited definition and classification for wandering proposed in wandering behavior research. We further examine existing solutions for managing wandering in terms of our proposed categorization of wandering research, namely event monitoring-based wandering discovery, trajectory tracking-based wandering detection, and location combined with Geofence-based prevention of wandering-related adverse results. Based on the definition, categorization, and the state of the art, we discuss the major research challenges and future directions in detecting wandering locomotion in different settings. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first survey on wandering and technological solutions in this niche area of ambient assisted living.