Examples for today. Based on the combination of various needs of a person with Dementia.

The physical needs. Pian, Hunger and thurst

You have to understand that if a patient is irritated physical need might be their priority.

This creates a lot of confusion. Sometimes the caregivers think that the patient is doing this on purpose.

Enviornmental Needs. Heat, cold, noice, silence

Let me tell you an incident, two months back before the second wave.

Everyday between 2-3 pm that 76 years old patient would create a commotion. So big that all the house members would require to have to leave their work and concentrate over him.

Everything was fine sometime before, so when we started discussing it I asked him

What was his favourite movie on which he replied Sholey.

As soon as he said that it struck me, that he goes out for a walk in the noontime

As everyone takes an afternoon nap after lunch their house had 8 rooms each person would sleep in their own room. He would sit in the drawing

There would be silence in the house, even after everyone is in the house. Now, the patient thinks that the villain of the movie has killed all his family members.

And he would create a commotion to take a revenge. I advised the members to be with him and talk to him at the hour

His Dementia started around September, the whole family would be together due to covid. That is why all this was happening

Silence is a sign of Dementia. Colours, Contours/ Surface textures etc can also disturb the patient.

Emotional needs. Past memories of a lost person. Crying about past memories all the time. Sympathy & reassurance,

They will call people and tell them it's fine don't be worried I am here for no reason at all. They would call the family and ask them to hand over to a person who is dead.

Safety and Comfort. whenever they would feel unsafe or uncomfortable, they would get scared. This is very common in Dementia

Therefore the family members contact us. Cognitive needs. Some people like to read, draw or give a speech. Watching movies.

Understanding. They would watch a movie, and they won't understand the dialogue. And they would be clueless about rewind as they are used to their old technology

Perception of objects change. They wouldn't like things in the showcase and would try to change their positions

Now that would be an antique and they would think of it as real and schold it for being there.

Recollection and reflection. If you would talk to them about covid or its guidelines they would think it's been going on for ages.

Even after being on a route they had never been, they would say that they recall it. On my first visit, they would say that we have met quite a few times.

They try to recall the memories with me even though we never met. They get similar reflections.

They feel the need for warmth in Social needs. They would go into their daughter-in-law's room from time to time. Which would be taken in the wrong way.

Association. Interuppting in others buisness. Would fight with their children over handeling the buisness.

Principals and values. There are a lot of conflicts over this one. In-laws would trouble the homemaker they would question her principles.

They want things according to their time. Wanting to be a part of all ceremonial activities.

Spiritual needs. Discovering the meaning of life. Account of good and bad. What have I achieved in my life?

Self-praising by just accounting all good. Getting depression due to just counting all the bad.

We need to understand that they are depressed or are crying due to such analyzations

The outcome of life. They would feel that their end is near. I have two experiences related to this,

A person would see the satan every nigh and tell his about his end over which the person would get super scared.

That was the start of his dementia. He would see satan and then wonder all day about the bad things they have done.

They would calculate the outcome of their good doings. All this happens due to Dementia and old age.

Identity needs. Sense of being someone. An identity in their own house. A lot of time this is presented in the face of fights

A lot of times these needs are heard through others. They do this on purpose.

They listen properly to things that are in their interest. When we talk about our interests they can make sense of it.

They tell me that all that is just drama and not an illness. Can we understand their unmet needs from their deviated behavioural patterns? Yes, we can.