Environmental modification represents a new treatment approach to enable caregivers to manage daily care and maintain individuals with dementia at home. To advance this approach, a model of disablement is used to describe dementia-related behaviors and identify the potential role and impact of environmental strategies. It is suggested that behaviors at the disability level of the model, wandering and resistance to self-care, can be managed with four types of environmental strategies. These include strategies that modify physical objects, simplify task performance, introduce assistive devices, or involve home alterations. Implications for caregiver well-being and directions for future research are discussed.
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Gitlin et al. (1996) studied this question.