Interventions in dementia care: Responding to the call for alternatives to restraints

Abstract

A variety of interventions are used to manage or accommodate agitated behaviors and to support the strengths of persons with dementia. In this article, a taxonomy of seven domains of caregiving approaches are described with examples from caregiving contexts in adult day care and home environments. These findings are part of a larger qualitative study designed to describe and classify interventions in dementia care and to explore factors influencing caregiving approaches. The most frequently reported interventions were social and psychological approaches, and these findings support the application of a social model for dementia care. Twenty-nine interventions in seven domains extend the range of caregiving approaches which can be used as alternatives to physical and chemical restraints in dementia care.