Tag Archives: care centers

I found this article about the steps a dementia care center took to reduce the amount of middle of the night wandering by their dementia patients very interesting. The solution was simple and not nearly as expensive as medication. They simply offered the wandering residents snacks (a mix of naughty and healthy food) and the midnight snacks really seemed to curb their wandering tendencies.

I’ve written many times before about how Dad would wander at the nursing home. He was in a secure dementia care wing, so he couldn’t get outside, but he could still fall, which was the concern of the nursing home referred to in the article above.

When Dad wandered, sometimes he would have to be lured back to his room by a treat. One time it was a lollipop. Another time it was a piece of chocolate. The small bit of sweets seemed to calm Dad’s wandering spirit, at least for that night.

As the article mentions, the staff provided safe snacks for their diabetic dementia patients as well. I fully support care centers such as these that get creative in trying to accommodate their dementia residents. Offering snacks and the cleanup involved creates a bit more work than just handing out pills, but there are some centers that actually care about quality of life, versus just trying to make patients into “trouble free” zombies.

We need to encourage more of these proactive care centers in our communities.