Psychosocial Best Practices for Working with Clients with Dementia | Occupational Therapy Practice

Introduction Clients with dementia often live at home for as long as they are able until later stages of the disease. Before dementia was understood in earlier history, clients were labeled with terms such as “confused” and “disoriented”. Our recent understanding of dementia has promoted efforts in considering and addressing the psychosocial components of the … Read more

Dementia and Wandering | Occupational Therapy Interventions & Evidence-Informed Practice Guidelines

Motivation for this article I recently saw some social media posts from OTs on managing wandering or those who are a ‘flight risk’ with dementia. They offer some great ideas such as environmental barriers to prevent wandering outside the home – that sounds good at least in theory. Modern approaches may even incorporate smart home … Read more

Non-pharmacological Occupational Therapy Interventions for Dementia

OT Dementia Featured Image

Four categories of interventions are discussed for clients with dementia at home with support by caregivers. Introduction While the specific needs of the client should be addressed, there should be considerations for the caregiver(s) who have taken on the primary role of caregiving for clients at home with dementia. Studies have shown that caregivers are … Read more

Dementia Fall Risk and Prevention Education Occupational Therapy

Dementia Fall Interventions

Introduction An important intervention for patients with dementia and their family is education about fall risks and prevention strategies. Falls are a complex and multifactorial issue that can result in patient injury and morbidity, especially in older adults. People with dementia are 5 times more likely to be institutionalized than people with dementia who do … Read more

Memory Books and Life Story Books for Dementia – Occupational Therapy

Memory & Life Story Books for Dementia

Introduction In my mental health rotation at an outpatient behavioral health setting, one of the previous students created a nostalgia book for one of the social and leisure groups. It was a very creative book that contained photographs and pictures of pop culture, media, products, and historical events aimed for older adults. Although this nostalgia … Read more