My mom has not tried to get out at night but who knows if that might change. Are there regulations on assisted living facilities requiring someone monitoring the front door? You can walk out but can’t come back in. Also, if I come back with her after 8:30 it’s difficult to get anyone to to come to the door. The say to push the emergency button at the door but no one comes . I’ve just had to wait until I happen to see a person working there way down the hall and bang on the door. I don’t want to move her because she’s comfortable there, not happy about being there, but at least used to it and the staff are very nice. I just don’t know if I can get the management to change this. I’m in Colorado.
My own Dad moved into Independent Living in a senior facility. Much to my surprise later down the road the Adm had a meeting with me where they suggested it was time for Dad to move to their Memory Care section, as Dad was found on numerous occasions trying to leave the building at night, and not coming to the dining room for his dinner.
Dad always acted pretty sharp for his age whenever I visited. Apparently he was "showtiming" when I was there. And now he was "sundowning". So we quickly choose a room in Memory Care for Dad. It was easy to move Dad as I told Dad a "therapeutic fib" that this new room was less expensive and Dad was always trying to save money :)
That's how we made the move; by being forced; that's how it may have to happen with this OP too. In hindsight, I WISH we'd waited another year before moving mom to MC b/c she disliked it a lot & wanted her old apt back in AL very much so. :(
In my opinion, the family should wait until it's ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY for the parent to be placed in Memory Care before making that move b/c it's very difficult for (most of) them to transition (unless they are VERY far advanced). AL is freedom, while MC is another world entirely with many restrictions, etc.
I can def understand about your dad FF, with the wandering and stuff, why he had no other choice but to go into MC. Mom was the queen of Showtiming too, which makes things SO MUCH HARDER!! :(
The whole point OF AL is that the residents can come and go as they please. Once the level of care increases, then they have to move accordingly. When I had a hard time getting into the AL at night by ringing the bell, I'd simply call the front desk and that would alert the staff that someone was trying to gain access.
I seriously doubt you are going to get the management to change their policies based on one person trying to gain access after hours! Try calling the front desk when you need to get in.......that's your best bet.
Good luck.
If mom is at risk of wandering, AL is probably not the correct level of care. You say she hasn't done this yet, so what is your concern? Is she starting to have behaviors that lead you to be concerned?
My grannie was in a wheelchair and she was a flight risk from the NH. They had to put an ankle bracelet on her so they could catch her if she took flight.
She was in a room that was far from the front door, only door that actually exited the property but, still managed to go missing a couple of times :-( fortunately, they knew right away that Elvis had left the building :-)
I would like to encourage you to not borrow trouble. Deal with things as the become problems or you will wear yourself to a frazzle trying to stay ahead of a very unpredictable disease. She may never become a wanderer.
I would get with the ED and find out why you can't get a response from the emergency buzzer. That is a concern for safety.
The residents are free to go as they please. There is supposed to be someone to let them back in if they are going to be out past desk hours but the person is supposed to let someone know they will be back. I worked in a lovely AL years back and every resident had to be accounted for after the desk closed which was around 8:30 at my place.
There is supposed to be night staff who do regular security rounds. They check on all the residents periodically, mind the doors, and make sure all is well. If the AL your mom is in doesn't have this kind of staff, someone should have a word with their administration because they're supposed to.