Article -re: "Lying" aka verbal coping skill New Yorker article

weareallunique

Long but thought provoking dated 2018

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/10/08/the-comforting-fictions-of-dementia-care

Jgirl57

Very long but very interesting. Thank you for sharing

harshedbuzz

This will be behind a paywall for many.

That said, I do recall reading the article when it was first published. I'm not entirely sure I'm fully bought in. I think it's an appealing design for families who are making such decisions. I know I was initially impressed by the thought that went into the design. Thinking about it more, some things didn't make sense. One fancy place had a town square with faux cobblestones that could catch the shoe of someone who has a shuffling gait. And the cheerfully painted clouds on the ceiling were unlikely to be noticed by a PWD whose condition caused them to not look up (it's why we put locks on doors above their sight lines).

Given the number of PWD who struggle with confusion and agitation demanding to "go home!" while standing in the house they've owned for 50 years makes me wonder how much this matters to the people who live there.

When I was touring (I toured a dozen places locally), a number of the corporate, stand-alone MCFs that didn't accept Medicaid and cherry-picked their residents had these sorts of designs. The lovely religious-affiliated CCRC's MCF in which my aunt lived also embraced this kind of design.

TBH, I never saw the residents engaged in the "old-timey" shop, sitting on the park benches, looking at the WW II memorabilia, or in the doll room. Most were engaged by the person doing the current activity on offer and frankly, folks with a known behavior potential weren't offered admission (dad was rejected at one) and those who developed an issue were quickly turfed to a geri psych and then a different facility.

Having a lovely Victorian-style facade to her suite didn't help my aunt recognize it; auntie was stuck in 1949 believing she was living in the married student dorms (aka 15' trailer) at Rutgers. She would look out her window and describe the seagulls on the rocks of Casco Bay (her view at home) rather than the trees in suburban Boston outside.

While dad's facility offered dementia-informed design and care, the decor was fairly cozy but felt lived in rather than contrived to look like something it wasn't. This facility invested in staff training and retention, and it was the caregivers that eased the friction.

YMMV.
HB

weareallunique

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