09/14/2012
"Imagine that you have absolutely no short-term memory. You have no idea where you are or why you are there. You don't know how you got to this place, and you have no concept of what you will be doing later. You look around but don't recognize anybody. Now a perfect stranger comes up and, after mumbling something, attempts to take your clothes off. How do you respond? Would you try to get away? Would you scream? Would you fight?
For residents in long term care facilities who have impaired cognition, the above scenario and many others like it, happen almost daily. Through our failure to understand and attend to who the resident is and address unmet physical, mental or emotional needs, we cause challenging behaviors to occur in our residents and decrease their overall quality of life.
