For some time now, husband has insisted that this house is not where he lives. Granted, over our life together, we have moved a lot, so I can imagine some confusion. Sometimes he believes he lives in his childhood home, and other times he can't remember where. This happens more at night and he gets very fearful and sometimes aggressive about it. For the first time ever, two days ago while I was in another part of our small home, I heard the front door open and close. I rushed out to see him headed down the sidewalk, jacket and hairbrush, (for some reason this bristle brush has become a symbol of his possessions), in hand. When I asked where he was going, he replied "home". I gently asked where that was and he did not know. I was able to bring him back to talk about it and eventually he agreed to stay here for now. Now we are in the process of selling our home and will probably either rent a house again or an apartment. How is the best way to handle this transition?
When my Mom was in long-term-care, I told her she was in a motel and she was ok with that for a long time. Except she would get upset that my Dad took the tour bus without her [Dad still lived in their home].
If your hubby is starting to wander outside in the middle of the night, it will happen no matter where you live. So you will need to find some way to have special locks installed so that only you can open the door. But don't be surprised if a person is very determined to get out, they will figure how the locks work.
I read long ago if you place a black throw rug on the inside of the doors, the person with memory issues will think that black rug is a hole, especially at night. No guarantees on this idea, but worth a try.
Found this article about wandering here on Aging Care: https://www.agingcare.com/articles/how-to-minimize-the-risk-of-alzheimers-wandering-142801.htm