Behavioral Symptom Management Flashcards

A resident with dementia repeatedly removes their clothing in common areas. After ruling out medical causes, the BEST intervention is to:

Answer: Use adaptive clothing with back closures and address comfort or sensory needs

Adaptive clothing that is difficult to self-remove, combined with assessment of sensory discomfort or heat, addresses the behavior while preserving dignity.

The DICE approach to behavioral symptoms in dementia stands for:

Answer: Describe, Investigate, Create, Evaluate

The DICE framework — Describe, Investigate, Create, Evaluate — is a structured clinical process for assessing and managing behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia.

Which statement about psychotropic medications for behavioral symptoms in dementia is most accurate?

Answer: Nonpharmacological strategies should be tried first; medications used only when necessary

Major clinical guidelines (APA, AGS) consistently recommend nonpharmacological interventions as first-line treatment, reserving medications for cases where there is significant risk of harm.

A person with Lewy body dementia experiences vivid, frightening visual hallucinations. The caregiver's SAFEST response is to:

Answer: Remain calm, acknowledge the experience, and offer reassurance

Remaining calm and validating the person's fear without agreeing the hallucination is real is the safest approach; typical antipsychotics are contraindicated in Lewy body dementia due to severe sensitivity reactions.

Which pain assessment tool is most appropriate for a nonverbal person with advanced dementia who displays agitated behaviors?

Answer: PAINAD (Pain Assessment in Advanced Dementia)

PAINAD is validated specifically for nonverbal individuals with advanced dementia, assessing behavioral and physiological indicators of pain that may present as agitation.

Therapeutic fibbing in dementia care refers to:

Answer: Using compassionate untruths to avoid causing unnecessary distress

Therapeutic fibbing involves using compassionate, benign untruths — such as agreeing that a deceased loved one will visit — to prevent unnecessary emotional pain while maintaining the person's wellbeing.

A person with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) makes sexually inappropriate comments to staff. The MOST likely explanation is:

Answer: Disinhibition due to frontal lobe degeneration affecting impulse control

FTD preferentially damages the frontal lobes, which govern impulse control and social judgment, causing disinhibition that results in inappropriate social behaviors.