Narratives about the reasons for wandering in people with Alzheimer’s disease: the perspective of Polish family members. Preliminary report.

Background: People living with Alzheimer’s disease often require support from their relatives, who may face emotional and physical challenges in their role. Up to 90% of people living with cognitive impairment experience unmet needs such as wandering.

Objective: The aim of the study was to analyse the narrative of relatives of people living with Alzheimer’s disease experiencing unsatisfied behavioural needs and whether this has a relationship with levels of burden.

Methods: Relatives who cared for a family member with Alzheimer's disease at home participated in a structured interview with a psychologist and completed the Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI) to assess caregiver burden. An analysis was conducted of the frequency of words used in the relatives' responses to the question "What is your experience of your loved one's wandering?".

Results: A total of 15 relatives participated in the study. Relatives with higher levels of burden related to their role as caregivers were more likely to use words such as "disorder" (on average once per interview), "problem" (on average three times per interview), and "difficulty" (on average twice per interview), than people with low levels of burden. For people with low levels of burden, the word "need" appeared as a significant expression (on average four times per interview).

Conclusions: Relatives who experience less burden are more likely to understand the reasons behind their loved ones' need or desire to wander. They are less likely to perceive this behavior as a problem and restrict the person's freedom of movement for their own safety.