All too true!
That said, the very worst people in the world to give that very care are the immediate family, who may well be frustrated out of their cotton picking minds, by the changes they simply do not understand!
As they endlessly critique the sufferers loss of function/memory/self sufficiency.
And that very frustration is a two way street that can lead to violence. A problem further compounded by the often unnatural strength of the clinically insane?
Even so, there's is nothing more heartbreaking that to be FORCED to place a parent or a spouse in a nursing home for the permanently bewildered, and or, watch as they lose more and more of their faculties; and eventually, fail to recognize members of their immediate family!
That said, new research holds out hope that this will, not too far ahead in time, become a problem of our past!
Rhrosty

I don't quite see how the idea of a loving, caring God and incontinent old people whose minds are rotting away can be reconciled, other than by a mind which is rotting away itself. If delusions are going to be an inescapable part of one's old age, perhaps one should defer them till then, and not embrace them while still capable of rational thought.

I have worked with severely demented people for over 15 years now.
I agree that smiling and caring deeply for dementia sufferers assists them to remain calm and happy, in their own way.
Hugs, laughing, joking, dancing and singing all help them enjoy what life they have left.

The bizarre notion that somehow becoming 'spiritual' and finding God will 'cure' or 'reverse' altzeimers disease is very strange indeed. I never saw that happen once.
Having cared for demented nuns and priests, as well as ministers and pastors of various religions, I would beg to differ, and so would they!

These very pious, devoted people demented just the same as any of the dementia sufferers. Their brains showed the same patterns of destruction as any of the others, as almost all patients had brain scans to rule out any other brain diseases.

In fact, I would go even further and say that many of the dementia sufferers spending their time clutching their rosary beads or clinging to their religious books, seemed somehow even more tortured than the others.

Maybe they were wondering why their God would allow this terrible illness to slowly drive them insane, and then ravage their bodies as well?

I know from a sister (later deceased) whose brain was severely damaged by a haemorrhage that a house pet in the nursing home was specially restorative, probably because the cat displayed a dependence on its contacts with her. Also re-telling childhood and younger adulthood stories of funny incidents did wonders: There'd been a time when she was infuriated by a neighbour who let her dog leave souvenirs on her front lawn, and once she collected the specimens for a few days, then used a plastic ruler to flick them one by one over the fence into the neighbour's swimming pool. My sister never tired of hearing the story retold. Every time I recounted that at her bedside she would be laughing before I reached the punch line even though she was zombified most of the time. Never tried "spiritual" stuff but if children can relate themselves to fairy stories adults may well do the same if they can similarly believe them plausible.

I think the key is for the patient to feel a link with a world outside himself/herself even if it is a live animal or a remembered incident.