Escape On A Bus To Nowhere

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Elderly people trying to make a break for freedom are common at nursing homes. Confused patients at the Ben Rath nursing home in Germany would often slip out the door and get lost. Some would be found wandering in stores or even in the forest. Others would jump on buses in search of family that had passed away. One woman found her way back to her old home and was surprised to find people she didn’t know living there.

When these escapes would happen, the Ben Rath staff would go crazy with worry trying to find them. In the past, the staff only had a couple of options. They could either sedate residents who were trying to escape, or they could lock them up.

They were brainstorming for a better way to deal with the problem when someone suggested making a fake bus stop. The local government agreed to help and provided an identical bus stop right in front of the Ben Rath nursing home. It had the same colors, benches, and bus schedules. Naturally, the first thing that happened was local neighbors began to wait at the bus stop until a staff member would notice and tell them the bus stop was fake.

The average age of residents at Ben Rath is 84, and many of them have dementia. One day one of the women thought she was a little girl, and she demanded to see her mother. The staff tried to calm her down, but she was insistent. The staff led her out to the bus stop and asked her to wait. A nurse sat with her, enjoying the sunshine and fresh air while waiting for the bus. After a little while, the elderly woman forgot what she was waiting for, and the nurse convinced her to come back inside for some tea.

The fake bus stop now gets used every few days by patients who demand to leave. They are often guided there by staff or by patients who have escaped before, and the first thing they see is the bus stop. It has been so successful that it has spread to other nursing homes around Germany.

While the staff at Ben Rath are, in a way, lying to their elderly patients, they do so with compassion and respect. The director of Ben Rath says, instead of drugging them or demanding that they accept reality, “You have to deal with them in the reality in which they live.”

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Click any word to translate.

Elderly people trying to make a break for freedom are common at nursing homes. Confused patients at the Ben Rath nursing home in Germany would often slip out the door and get lost. They would wander into stores or even in the forest. Others would jump on buses. They would search for family that had passed away. One woman found her way back to her old home. She was surprised to find people she didn’t know living there.

The Ben Rath staff would go crazy trying to find them. In the past, they only had two choices. They could drug people trying to escape, or they could lock them up.

They were brainstorming for a better way to deal with the problem. Someone suggested making a fake bus stop. The local government agreed to help. They made a bus stop in front of the nursing home. It had the same colors, benches, and bus schedules. The first thing that happened was local neighbors began to wait at the bus stop. A staff member would have to tell them the bus stop was fake.

The average age of people at Ben Rath is 84. Many of them have dementia. One day one of the women thought she was a little girl. She demanded to see her mother. The staff tried to calm her down, but she would not stop. The staff asked her to wait at the bus stop. A nurse sat with her. They enjoyed the sunshine and fresh air while waiting for the bus. After a little while, the woman forgot what she was waiting for. The nurse convinced her to come back inside for some tea.

The fake bus stop now gets used every few days by people who want to leave. They are often guided there by staff or by patients who have escaped before. The first thing they see is the bus stop. It has been so successful that it is being done at other nursing homes around Germany.

While the staff at Ben Rath are, in a way, lying to their elderly patients, they do so with kindness and respect. The director of Ben Rath says they don’t need to drug them. And they shouldn’t demand they accept reality. He says, “You have to deal with them in the reality in which they live.”

Escape On A Bus To Nowhere

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