My father, loves to go outdoors and pee! I don't really care if he does it in the back out of sight. However, in the front yard!?! I have told him to stay in the back yard but with dementia....he forgets. Sometimes he gets past me and I don't notice he is outside.
I can only hope the neighbors will turn their head, but if a child were to come by, that is an entirely different story. It is really embarrassing.
Anyone else have this issue? How do you deal with it?
However, you see the unfortunate results if a child walks by - indecent exposure. Likely the authorities, if called, would be reasonable, but that depends on their ability to use common sense.
My suggestion would be that you lock the front door with a very high (out of sight) key only deadbolt. Keep it locked and the key in your pocket when you can't keep an eye on dad.
Is the back yard fenced or heavily treed? That would help out there, so use your judgment. You may need to use locks that are unnoticed an/or inaccessible to him on all doors so that he only goes out when you are with him. He sounds as though he could go into a wandering stage, which would be terrible - he could just wander off after his peeing adventure. It's likely time to keep a tighter hold on him for his own safety.
I hope you hear from some others who have experienced this. Anyone out there have this problem?
Take care,
Carol
Just as a point of information, the high locks may be appropriate for many Alzheimer patients, but not for all forms of dementia. My husband did rehab in a memory care unit, with simple high locks on the doors. That would not have presented even a minor annoyance to him or to his roommate. (A deadbolt with key-only access would not have been suitable in that setting.) I put a lock on the door to our basement, as a safety measure, and dear hubby got a screwdriver to take the hinges off. In the 8 years he has had Lewy Body Dementia he has never had wandering behavior. Since many people tend to think that "dementia" means "Alzheimers" I like to point out that there are differences. Nearly half of older dementia patients have something other than Alzheimers.