How to Approach Persons with Dementia

The video clip below shows how to approach a person with dementia so as to minimize anxiety and offer respect (time: 4 minutes 20 seconds).

How you approach and speak to dementia patients is very important. While you may not think twice about coming up to a person from behind and putting your hands on their shoulders to say hello, doing so to someone with Alzheimer’s disease or another dementia is not recommended. That’s because people with dementia lack impulse control, and approaching them unexpectedly from behind could anger or frighten them, eliciting a response that could cause emotional distress or aggression.

So, it’s important to approach dementia patients from the front, where they can see you. This way, the individual’s brain can process your approach, as long as they are not in late stage dementia and are no longer capable of processing this kind of information in the moment.

When approaching a dementia patient, take your time getting to them by walking slowly. Again, you want to give the individual’s brain time to process the information that you are coming towards them. If you come up too quickly, it may result in the individual trying to escape you or even pushing or grabbing you. Therefore, as a rule of thumb, approach the individual very slowly, taking one step per second.

Your stance, once you have reached the Alzheimer’s patient, should not be directly in front of the individual. This stance, also known as a confrontational stance, can elicit a negative response. Instead, stand an arm’s reach away and to the side of the individual, giving him or her the opportunity to look away from you if desired. This stance is called a supportive stance.