1. The human right of all people living with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia is to be with people who know their life story including cultural habits and religious faith (Bell & Troxel, 2003).
2. Developing friendships, relationships, and trust with people with dementia is the foundation of person-directed care (Bell & Troxel, 2003; Zgola, 1999). Knowing, understanding, and thoughtfully using the life history of the person with dementia are the keys to creating and maintaining this foundation.
3. The only way to truly understand an individual in later life in a holistic manner is to see her or him in a life-course perspective.
4. Although more and more cueing is required as the disease progresses, the long-term memory remains relatively intact until the later stages of Alzheimer’s Disease. Therefore, there is a need to “capitalize on what can be remembered from the distant past to help counter the threat to personhood” (Chaudhury, 2002).
5. “Neurodevelopmental Sequencing Approach” in Dementia. Behavior, movement, and functional losses in people with dementia occur in approximately the reverse order of their original development (Buettner, & Kolanowski, 2003). Functional abilities, skills, and activities a person acquired, learned, and enjoyed in infancy, childhood, and early adult life may be relatively preserved into the later stages of dementia. This key principle can be described in the phrase “What Goes In First, Goes Out Last.”
6. To be able to have a meaningful interaction, connection, and communication with the person with dementia (e.g., conversation prompter) and to be able to attribute meaning to seemingly incoherent speech (Chaudhury, 2002).
7. To be able to identify, focus, and capitalize on the person’s remaining abilities (Yes, we need to understand and proactively compensate for the decreased or lost abilities but we also need to avoid focusing excessively on these). Due to the progressive nature of Alzheimer’s disease, this is a “moving target” that requires regular assessment and adjustment.
8. To be able to plan, encourage, and engage the person in enriching, appropriate, and personally meaningful activities based on her or his life-long interests, current abilities, disabilities, and preferences. This, while remaining open to the possibility that life-long interests may change among certain individuals.
9. To understand the meaning of behavioral expressions for the person living with dementia (Rasin & Kautz, 2007). For example, to be able to identify and address remote triggers from the distant past of distressing behavioral expressions (Landerville et al. 2005). Research and practice have demonstrated a relationship between various early-life stressful events (e.g., life-threatening experiences and traumas) and current distressing behavioral expressions (Cohen-Mansfield & Marx, 1989; Feil, 2002).
10. To be able to design a physical environment in a way that is personalized, familiar to the individual, understandable, and consistent with her or his lifelong positive experiences such as in their homes. This, from general design of physical spaces to cultural, ethnic, and familiar symbols, favorite and personally meaningful objects, and furniture. This, while continuously adapting the physical environment to the person’s cognitive disabilities and remaining abilities.
11. To know what in the person’s life gives her or him hope (Kivnick, 1993) and to use this knowledge to nurture this sense in the present.
12. To know what it is in the person’s life (from her/his perspective) that is most worth living for or that makes her/him feel most alive (Kivnick, 1993).
13. To know whom or what the person especially cares about (Kivnick, 1993) and to use this knowledge to plan conversations, emotional support, meaningful engagement, and personal care.
14. To know the things that have always given the person confidence and made her or him proud (Kivnick & Murray, 2001) and to use this knowledge on a regular basis to promote those feelings and experiences in the person.
15. To know the person’s fears and to make every effort to avoid situations, conversations, activities, and care tasks that may trigger those fears.
16. To be able to anticipate and proactively address the person’s physical, emotional, psychological, social, occupational, cultural, and spiritual needs. Various unmet needs related to the person’s psychosocial history often contribute to distressing and harmful behavioral expressions (Whall & Kolanowski, 2004).
17. Many family members want to remain involved in the care of their relative when the person lives in a long-term care home (such as a nursing home or an assisted living residence). Learning about the unique and rich life-history of the person is a great way to involve family members in her or his support and care (Chaudhury, 2002). This, in turn, could inform and lead to more individualized and effective care and highest practical physical function, emotional / psychological well-being, and safety.
18. To be able to develop an individualized care plan that respects the person’s values, beliefs, faith, personality, lifestyle, daily routine, habits, coping style, areas of sensitivity, fears, traumas, accomplishments, expectations, interests, special skills, likes, dislikes, hobbies, and preferences.
19. To relate to the person with empathetic identification and make her/him feel that she/he is understood as a real person (Chaudhury, 2002).
20. To be able to see the person behind the dementia and/or her/his behavioral expressions and to preserve her or his personhood, identity, sense of self, and dignity as long as possible (Kitwood, 1997).
“People with dementia may have something important to teach the rest of humankind. If we make the venture one of genuine and open engagement, we will learn a great deal about ourselves“
– Professor Tom Kitwood, author of the groundbreaking book: Dementia Reconsidered: The Person Comes First (1997).
References
Bell, V., & Troxel, D. (2003). The best friends approach to Alzheimer’s care. Baltimore: Health Professions Press. Buettner, L. & Kolanowski, A. (2003). Practice guidelines for Recreation Therapy in the care of people with dementia. Geriatric Nursing, 24(1), 18-25.
Chaudhury, H. (2002). Place-biosketch as a tool in caring for residents with dementia. Alzheimer’s Care Quarterly, 3(1), 42-45.
Cohen-Mansfield, J & Marx, M.S. (1989). Do past experiences predict agitation in nursing home residents? International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 28(4), 285-294.
Feil, N. (2002). The validation breakthrough: Simple techniques for communicating with people with Alzheimer’s-type dementia. (2nd edition). Baltimore: Health Professions Press.
Kitwood, T. (1997). Dementia Reconsidered: The Person Comes First. Berkshire, UK: Open University.
Kivnick, H.Q., & Murray, S.V. (2001). Life strengths interview guide: Assessing elder clients strengths. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 34(4), 7-32.
Kivnick, H.Q. (1993). Everyday mental health: a guide to assessing life strengths. Generations, 17(1), 13-20.
Landerville, P., Dicaire, L., Verreault, R., & Levesque, L. (2005). A training program for managing agitation of residents in long-term care facilities: Description and preliminary findings. Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 31(3), 34-4.
Rasin, J., & Kautz, D.D. (2007). Knowing the resident with dementia: Perspectives of assisted living facility caregivers. Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 33(9), 30-36.
Whall, A.L. & Kolanowski, A.M. (2004). The need-driven dementia-compromised behavior model – a framework for understanding the behavioral symptoms of dementia. Aging & Mental Health, 8(2), 106-108.
Zgola, J.M. (1999). Care that works: A relationship approach to persons with dementia. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Hello,
I am an Aging 320 student at the Erikson School of Aging.
I have found this post to be very interesting and educational. It defiantly is very important to know the early life history of the individual. I recently met an immigrant lady staying at a shelter that has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. As you have stated in your post, her long-term memory is still intact, and she is able to share with me about events that happened in her earlier life. Your post has encouraged me to know more about the things that give her hope and the things that are most worth for. In our class we have learned about activities that can be used to engage individuals with dementia and the things that are most important to them can be included in these activities so that they enjoy it more. In our course work, we learned about the importance of non-drug treatment approaches that are very beneficial to individuals such as listening to music and looking at paints and photographs. These non-drug therapeutic models can include the things that are most important to the individual if we know how their early life was.
Hi,
I am an Aging 320 student at the Erickson School of Aging. I too believe that it is extremely valuable to both dementia patents and family members to get to know the early life history of people who are living with dementia. This semester, we learned a lot of the symptoms and affects of dementia on both the client and its family members. Living with dementia can be difficult for both the patients and its social circle. I believe knowing the previous stories of one’s past with dementia can cognitively stimulate their memories and even restore some of their behaviors and personalities temporarily. I think cognitive stimulation and any recall related to a person with dementia’s memories can also be beneficial as this post discusses. Meaningful interactions with patients with dementia can give supportive care from health professionals and even give relief to families by knowing their loved one is being taken care of. Ultimately, understanding and knowing the personal past life of a person living with dementia can be helpful and increase the overall quality of care given to them.
Hello,
I am an Aging 320 student at the Erickson School of Aging, and I really enjoyed this post. I cannot agree more on the importance of knowing the life stories of those with dementia. This semester we studied progression of dementia and how those living with it are effected every day. While most caregivers of older adults are family members, often those with dementia are either living within healthcare facilities or receiving care from non-related individuals. From my personal experience, I understand how developing individual care plans can be influenced by one’s life course. I believe, if we do not take the time to know the person behind the disease, we are doing an injustice the individual’s dignity.
I am not a clinician. I am a writer. More importantly, I am a hospice volunteer who utilizes Life Course Perspective when interviewing patients, collecting insights and reflections on the life events, transitions and altered trajectories of each life. Together (as much as possible) these life course road signs lead to short memoir pieces and poetry. Life Course Perspective is a valuable tool in the writing of our lives.