Dementia Care Approaches – The HPP Resource Center

Category: Dementia Care Approaches

Intergenerational Activities: Using the Best Friends Approach with Children

With the Best Friends™ approach, activities are more than just what’s on the calendar. Using Best Friends, almost everything can become an extended, interesting opportunity for engagement. A simple handshake can lead to a discussion about fingernail polish, gloves, work done by hand, “lifelines,” rings on fingers, promise rings, weddings, and more. A teapot can be enjoyed for its beauty, and discussions can follow about making tea, reading tea leaves, the different flavors of tea, and the Boston Tea Party. Because the bottom line of the Best Friends approach is to focus on the person rather than the task. In…

Leading Change in Memory Care: Commitment to Ongoing Education

I like to point out to people working in senior living that change will not only benefit their residents but also their bottom line. I work with families who are beginning their search for a life-affirming environment for a loved one. On a recent call with a man who had toured four nearby places with his father, he could not answer my question about which one he preferred. “Honestly, I can’t tell them apart. They all promise wonderful things, but I didn’t see [evidence of them] as we toured.” If you can tell the stories of the people’s lives you…

Behind Locked Doors: Segregation in Memory Care

Memory care is the fastest-growing area of senior living. It is now standard for assisted living communities and nursing homes to designate an area for a secure unit, usually with a coded keypad on the door. This is where the residents living with dementia will live, segregated from the rest of the residents. Often these secured units, with their extra charges, are the most expensive areas to live. I have worked as a registered nurse long enough to remember when it was also standard to tie people in their chairs or beds “for their own good.” None of us would…

Montessori and Meaningful Engagement: Reclaiming Previous Roles

An elder or person with dementia still has the same needs as everyone else. The person wants to socialize, express desires, participate in hobbies, interact with family, be included in activities, teach and learn, and be asked for advice. The person has the same desires to contribute to the household or the community. The need to have purpose in one’s life and to be productive does not end once someone reaches a certain age, moves into a long-term care community, or receives a diagnosis of dementia. Think of all the roles you have in your everyday life. You are a…

5 Inspiring Stories of Meaningful Person-Centered Memory Care

Small Ways Care Partners Have Improved Quality of Life and Made a Difference This post was excerpted from Getting Dementia Care Right: What’s Not Working and How It Can Change by Anne Ellett, M.S.N., NP. Copyright © 2023 by Health Professions Press. I have had so many meaningful experiences over the years working in memory care. I have worked with countless wonderful support partners and leaders, people who took the time to listen to an individual resident, advocated for him or her, and provided a gentle touch at just the needed moment to improve that person’s day. The following stories…

The 5 Main Flaws of Nonpharmacological Interventions (and How to Address Them Without Medication)

This post was excerpted from Dementia Beyond Disease: Enhancing Well-Being by G. Allen Power, M.D. (2017, Health Professions Press) Why Nonpharmacological Interventions Do Not Work This provocative heading may seem out of line for the author of a book called Dementia Beyond Drugs. Rest assured, I remain firmly rooted in the belief that most distress arises as expressions of unmet needs, and that drugs are not the answer. (For a deep dive on this, see Dementia Beyond Drugs: Changing the Culture of Care, Second Edition.) The problem lies not in that underlying philosophy, but…

Can We Achieve Drug-Free Dementia Care?

It may seem unrealistic to expect that we can care for people without using any psychotropic drugs for their various expressions. What is clear, however, is that a new approach to dementia can drastically reduce the use of these medications, making them the exception rather than the rule. We have seen a similar learning curve with the use of physical restraints in nursing homes. Due to the tireless work of pioneers, including Carter Catlett Williams, Lois Evans, and Neville Strumpf, these once-common features of nursing homes are rapidly disappearing. Many nursing homes are now restraint-free; I have not personally ordered…

Biomedical vs. Experiential Model in Dementia Care (Infographic)

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The Dementia Experience

The Experiential Model of Dementia Care The biomedical model (that is, a mindset of dementia that focuses only on physical and cognitive decline) sees dementia mostly as neuropathology. However, viewing only what can be easily observed and measured is inadequate to our needs. We must ask ourselves: how is dementia experienced by the person with the changing brain? That experience is more than simple structural and chemical defects; many other factors come into play, such as life history, relationships, ethnicity and culture, values, spirituality, interactions, and coping styles. Seeing dementia as a life experience and viewing the world through those…

The Benefits of Gardens in Dementia Care

Saying “hello” to the outside world, for even a brief moment, is vital. The truth is, trips outside, whether to the garden at the home or to a nearby forest or nature trail, are beneficial for both the residents and the employees. It does us all good to get a little air and light, and being out in nature can remind our residents, and ourselves, of our connectedness to something greater than ourselves. I am not sure why so many people assume that working at a nursing home means staying indoors. Let people go outside; it is good for all…

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