Dementia: Letting Memory-Impaired Patients Maintain Some Agency

From William Haseltine's thoughtful series of articles about caring for people with dementia:

allowing residents to sleep, eat, bathe, and congregate when and how they want has ripple effects across the organization.

“If you let people sleep as long as they like, they are far happier when we help them up out of bed,” says Ms. Mitchell. “We need fewer staff when the resident is not angry that we woke them up and are forcing them out of bed. It is the same for eating, showering, and all other activities.”
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Caregivers and family members often take control away from people living with dementia in a misguided attempt to protect the person from physical harm. Mitigating risk for people living with dementia in long term care centers and at home is an important aspect of care that cannot be overlooked.