CDP Dementia Care Practices 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A person with dementia becomes agitated every afternoon around 3 PM. This pattern is best described as:
- Delirium superimposed on dementia
- Sundowning syndrome (Correct answer)
- Psychotic episode
- Medication side effect
Correct answer: Sundowning syndrome
Sundowning refers to increased confusion, agitation, or behavioral disturbances that occur in the late afternoon or evening in people with dementia.
Question 2: Which approach is MOST effective when redirecting a person with dementia who is attempting to leave the facility to 'go home'?
- Lock the exit doors and tell them they cannot leave
- Argue that they are already home
- Acknowledge their feelings and redirect to a meaningful activity (Correct answer)
- Call family members immediately to handle the situation
Correct answer: Acknowledge their feelings and redirect to a meaningful activity
Acknowledging emotions and redirecting to a meaningful activity reduces distress without confrontation or deception.
Question 3: When providing personal care to a person with moderate dementia, the care practitioner should:
- Complete all tasks as quickly as possible to minimize distress
- Provide step-by-step instructions and allow the person to participate (Correct answer)
- Perform care while the person is sleeping to avoid resistance
- Use physical restraints if the person resists
Correct answer: Provide step-by-step instructions and allow the person to participate
Breaking tasks into steps and encouraging participation supports dignity, autonomy, and residual abilities.
Question 4: A resident with dementia repeatedly asks for her deceased mother. The BEST response from a care practitioner is:
- Remind her that her mother died many years ago
- Enter her reality and respond with empathy to her emotional need (Correct answer)
- Ignore the question to avoid reinforcing confusion
- Suggest she call her mother on the phone
Correct answer: Enter her reality and respond with empathy to her emotional need
Entering the person's reality and responding to the underlying emotion is more therapeutic than correcting factual errors.
Question 5: Which environmental modification BEST reduces wandering risk for a person with dementia?
- Placing bright red stop signs on exit doors (Correct answer)
- Keeping hallways brightly lit at all times
- Using physical restraints during nighttime hours
- Removing all furniture from common areas
Correct answer: Placing bright red stop signs on exit doors
Visual cues such as stop signs on exit doors are an evidence-based strategy to deter wandering without restricting freedom.
Question 6: Which of the following is a key principle of the DICE approach to managing dementia-related behavioral symptoms?
- Diagnose, Isolate, Correct, Evaluate
- Describe, Investigate, Create, Evaluate (Correct answer)
- Document, Intervene, Communicate, Exit
- Distract, Ignore, Confront, Educate
Correct answer: Describe, Investigate, Create, Evaluate
DICE stands for Describe, Investigate, Create, and Evaluate — a structured approach to assessing and managing behavioral symptoms in dementia.
Question 7: A person with late-stage dementia is no longer able to verbalize pain. The care practitioner should:
- Assume the person is not experiencing pain since they cannot report it
- Use a behavioral pain assessment tool such as PAINAD (Correct answer)
- Administer pain medication on a fixed schedule without assessment
- Wait for family to report pain before taking action
Correct answer: Use a behavioral pain assessment tool such as PAINAD
The PAINAD (Pain Assessment in Advanced Dementia) scale uses behavioral indicators to assess pain in non-verbal individuals.
CDP Dementia Care Practices 2
A person with dementia becomes agitated every afternoon around 3 PM.
This pattern is best described as: