This article is sponsored by Intrex. As senior living communities serve an increasingly complex resident population, safety concerns like elopement and cognitive decline are driving renewed focus on wander management. Outdated systems are no longer cutting it, and providers are seeking smarter, more responsive solutions that protect residents without sacrificing dignity. In this Voices interview, Senior Housing News sits down with Lacy Roberts, Vice President of Operations at Intrex, to explore the evolving needs around wander management, where most systems fall short, and how technology is reshaping the future of resident safety.
Senior Housing News: What life or career experiences have most shaped your approach to the work you’re doing today?
Lacy Roberts: Growing up, I spent full summers with my grandparents, and that time really helped me understand and appreciate the aging population. I still love 40s and 50s music because of those memories. I always knew I wanted to do something to help people. I was convinced I’d be a nurse, so in high school I took a CNA course that included time at both a hospital and a skilled nursing facility. But I quickly realized I would take everything home with me. I’d go home in tears, wishing I could do more for the people I was caring for. I knew then that providing day-to-day care probably wasn’t the right fit for me.
From there, I started thinking about how I could still make a difference without being directly involved in hands-on care. I discovered I had a passion for technology, and that ultimately led me to Intrex. I started as the product manager for our Rythmos product and worked my way up to VP of Operations. Now I still get to spend a lot of time in our client communities and I really enjoy continuing to interact with the residents we serve.
Why is wander management such a critical issue for senior living communities today?
Dementia and Alzheimer’s are becoming more prevalent across all age groups, and wander risk isn’t always obvious or consistent. Some residents have good days and bad days, and their risk level can shift. That’s why it’s so important to create an environment where they can live freely and with dignity, without the risk of leaving the community and ending up in an unsafe situation.
We’ve all read the horror stories. Even in my own neighborhood, there was an elderly man living alone. His daughter checked on him every couple of days, but one day he got out and was never found. That was two years ago. These stories happen far more often than any of us would like to admit.
And when I’m visiting communities, I often see residents who still believe they’re heading to work or following their old routines. They’re not trying to run away, they’re just trying to live the life they remember. But when they get out, they can become completely disoriented. Then it falls on good Samaritans to help, and if it’s dangerously hot or cold outside, things can go downhill quickly.
Wander management is essential because it keeps people safe without taking away their freedom. It protects their dignity while also protecting their lives.
What are many current wander management systems lacking or failing to do?
There are a few key gaps. First, most traditional wander management systems are completely siloed. They operate separately from other life safety systems in the community. You’ve got nurse call over here, wander management over there, and maybe access control in another system entirely. None of it is connected, so it becomes really hard to get a full picture of what’s happening with a resident.
That siloed setup limits how proactive a team can be. Another big issue is the lack of real-time location awareness. A lot of systems don’t give you any information about a resident’s location until they’re at the door. Or worse, until they’ve already exited. At that point, you’re reacting, not preventing.
But if you had location visibility built into the system and could flag a resident as an elopement risk, staff could intervene much earlier. Say you see someone walking toward an exit—you might not realize they’re a wander risk just by looking at them. But if the system alerts you and shows their movement, you can step in before it becomes an emergency.
And finally, once someone leaves the building, traditional systems go blind. There’s no tracking after the door. It turns into an all-hands-on-deck manhunt: everyone stops what they’re doing to try and find the missing resident. That’s not a reliable or sustainable approach.
What are the key components of a modern wander management solution in senior living?
It really comes down to taking a more holistic view of each resident and using that insight to get ahead of potential risks. That means looking at patterns of behavior—things like when they typically wake up, when they go to bed, and what their normal daily rhythm looks like. We all have our routines, and when those routines change, it can be a sign that something’s going on.
The key is to gather that information unobtrusively. Residents shouldn’t feel like they’re being watched by a bunch of cameras. But if you can use sensors or other passive technologies to understand those patterns, you can intervene before a wandering incident happens.
For example, say Mrs. Jones usually sleeps from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., but now you’re seeing movement at 3 or 4 a.m. That could be an early sign that she’s becoming more of a risk. Right now, that kind of thing is often anecdotal. Maybe a caregiver notices it, maybe they don’t, especially with staffing shortages and the challenges of night shifts.
But if you have a system in place that automatically detects these changes and not only shows the data but tells you what actions to take, that’s a game changer. It shifts wander management from being reactive to predictive.
And again, it has to be done in a way that respects the resident’s dignity. We want them to feel at home and live their life, while still keeping them safe. So it’s about using the right mix of technology like passive sensors, smart alerts, and actionable insights, to make better decisions and get ahead of issues before they escalate.
Where do you see wander management going next?
Definitely in a more predictive direction. I think we’ll start to see deeper integrations with systems like EHRs, where your wander management solution is also notified of changes in medication or other health updates that normally wouldn’t be visible. That kind of information really helps complete the bigger picture.
For example, if someone starts a new medication that disrupts their sleep, that could increase their risk of wandering. And we all know how off we can feel without proper rest, no matter our age. So connecting those dots between clinical changes and behavioral shifts will be a huge step forward.
Another big area is extending visibility beyond the resident’s apartment. We need better ways to understand their movements in the hallways, and even more importantly, track them if they do leave the building. Right now, once someone gets outside, many communities are essentially blind. There just aren’t many tools that help from that point on. This is why we developed our Rythmos wearable to provide real-time location both indoors and outdoors, which ensures total coverage.
So I think we’ll see the next wave of innovation focused on tighter integration, better data-sharing between systems, and embracing more robust tracking to support safety, even beyond the community’s walls.
Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
To learn more about Intrex’s Rythmos Community Intelligence Platform, visit intrexis.com.
The Voices Series is a sponsored content program featuring leading executives discussing trends, topics and more shaping their industry in a question-and-answer format. For more information on Voices, please contact [email protected].
