OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to understand the circumstances in which people with dementia become lost, and the outcomes of these incidents.
METHODS: A search was conducted of news articles published in Australia between 2011 and 2015 reporting a missing person with a diagnosis of dementia.
RESULTS: Over the five-year period, 130 missing person cases were reported. The average age of the missing person was 75 years with more men (74%) than women reported missing. Most missing persons travelled on foot (62%) and were last seen at home (66%). The newspaper reports described 92 (71%) of the individuals being found. Of these, 60% were found well, 20% were found injured, and 20% were deceased.
CONCLUSIONS: People with dementia are at risk of becoming lost from their homes or health-care settings, and this can have catastrophic outcomes. Care strategies need to focus on promoting autonomy while ensuring adverse outcomes are minimised.

Excessive wandering in people in dementia is associated with a severe care burden. However, the quantification of excessive wandering has not been described, and its cause and treatment have not been evaluated with objective measurements to date. The purpose of this study was to evaluate pharmacological treatments and non-pharmacological interventions to reduce excessive wandering in an early-onset Alzheimer disease patient with objective indicators. Wandering was quantified using an integrated circuit monitoring system that measured the distance moved and the location of the patient. Monitoring was conducted in the dementia ward of a general hospital in 2012. Sleep quality was measured by non-wear actigraphy. The study was approved by the ethics committees of the Osaka University School of Allied Health Science, and of the study hospital. The case involved a 62-year-old woman diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer disease and hospitalized in 2012 because of irritability and agitation; her Mini-Mental State Examination score was 5/30 and her Clinical Dementia Rating score was 3. When olanzapine (2.5 mg) was prescribed, she developed insomnia, and her wandering movements increased from 10 to 20 km/day. On some days, it exceeded 30 km/day, and she walked most of the night. She did not experience weight loss or physical exhaustion, but she sustained a minor injury in her left sole. Olanzapine was increased to 7.5 mg, but these problems persisted. Nursing staff discovered triggers for wandering and insomnia, including high sensitivity to odour and noise in the living room or her room. When the environment was changed to meet her needs, the distance moved per day decreased to <15 km and the sleep disturbances disappeared. This case demonstrated the difficulty in assessing the degree of ambulation and sleep disorder. Objective indicators are essential in evaluating the effectiveness of pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions.

Management of a crime is the process of ensuring accurate and effective collection and preservation of physical evidence. Forensic botany can provide significant supporting evidences during criminal investigations. The aim of this study is to demonstrate the importance of forensic botany in the crime scene. We reported a case of a woman affected by dementia who had disappeared from nursing care and was found dead near the banks of a river that flowed under a railroad. Two possible ways of access to crime scene were identified and denominated \"Path A\" and \"Path B.\" Both types of soil and plants were identified. Botanical survey was performed. Some samples of Xanthium Orientalis subsp. Italicum were identified. The fall of woman resulted in external injuries and vertebral fracture at autopsy. The botanical evidence is important when crime scene and autopsy findings are not sufficient to define the dynamics and the modality of death.

One of the most complicated aspects of caring for patients with dementia is dementia-driven wandering due to its adverse ramifications. We report a case of an 80-year-old man who had been previously diagnosed with dementia (with a score of 6 on the Reisberg Global Deterioration Scale - GDS). The patient went to an Adult Day Care Center on a daily basis where he demonstrated wandering behavior with a high rate of escape attempts (the number of times the Center\'s glass exit door was approached). The objective of this study is to present effective non-pharmacological intervention strategies for dementia-driven wandering; assessed strategies included: environmental (subjective barriers), cognitive/behavioral (cognitive training with differential reinforcement), and combined (subjective barriers + cognitive/behavioral). The results showed that all of these three strategies significantly decreased the number of escape attempts.

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BACKGROUND: Wandering is a behavioural disorder, which occurs in Alzheimer\'s disease or other dementia. People who wander are at risk of physical harm and untimely death. Moreover, wandering behaviour causes a lot of stress to the caregivers. In the last few years, different geolocation devices have been developed in order to minimise risk and manage unsafe wandering. These detection systems rarely meet patients and caregivers\' needs because they are not involved in the devices building process.
OBJECTIVE: The aim is to explore the needs and perceptions of wandering persons and their caregivers towards existing tracking devices as well as their acceptability and usability. This paper reports a dyad case.
METHODS: The tracking system tested is presented as a mobile Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver-shaped, including function of telephony and data transfer via GSM/GPRS.
METHODS: Dyad patient/caregiver expressed their needs and perceptions towards tracking devices and gave their impressions about the functioning of the tested device at the end of the test.
RESULTS: The patient focused on the device\'s shape which he found too voluminous and unaesthetic, and was unable to give an opinion about the device\'s functioning. The spouse highlighted malfunctions and usage difficulties, which made the device not appropriate to her needs.
CONCLUSIONS: Involving end-users in the co-design of new technologies is necessary for building tailored devices. Moreover, in this area of dementia care, the person-centred approach is essential to a tailored wandering management.