The Ten Commandments of Alzheimer’s Care

Learning to care for persons with Alzheimer’s disease and/or a related dementia takes time, education, patience and practice. It is a process that families and other caregivers undertake in learning to respond in ways that are loving, appropriate and effective.

Carly Hellen's handout "The Ten Commandments of Alzheimer’s Care" speaks to some of the changes in thinking and responding that caregivers go through:

The Ten Commandments of Alzheimer’s Care* **

1. Realize that you do the adapting and the modifying of your response to their behavior.

2. Realize that you enter their reality rather than pulling them into yours.

3. Realize that “One Size Doesn’t Fit All,” when it comes to what will and what won’t work for each individual.

4. Realize that approaches and techniques are not 100% failure free and that you must learn to be flexible.

5. Realize that Normalization is important in giving them a sense of participating in their own lives as they see fit.

6. Realize that Success means adapting the task to whatever the highest level happens to be.

7. Realize that the Process is more important than the net result, and celebrate that process regardless of the outcome.

8. Realize that you need to “Do What it Takes” when the tried and true have not been effective.

9. Realize that the family is an equal partner in the caregiving process and that educating them is up to you.

10. Realize that through your caregiving, You hold the key to the success of their journey through this disease and that because of this, you are a rare and special person.

*A special thank you to: Cynthia Belle, ACC, Director of Training and Education and the March 1994 Alzheimer’s Nursing Assistant Class of the Methodist Home, Chicago, IL

**With permission: Hellen, C. (1998). Second Edition, Alzheimer’s Disease: Activity Focused Care. Butterworth-Heinemann; Boston, MA. "The Ten Commandments of Alzheimer’s Care"