Age Related Cognitive Terms

Agitated

The state of being excited, restless, or troubled

Alzheimer’s Disease

A progressive, degenerative, and incurable Disease that causes proteins to build up around nerve cells, which results in memory loss, cognitive impairment, and behavioral changed

Catastrophic Reaction

Reacting to something in an unreasonable, exaggerated way

Dementia

A series, progressive loss of mental abilities such as thinking, remembering, reasoning, and communicating

Disruptive Behavior

Any behavior that disturbs others

Elope

In medicine, when a person with Alzheimer’s Disease wanders away from a protected area and does not return on his own

Intervention

A way to improve or change an action or development

Rummaging

Going through items that belong to other people

Sundowning

A condition in which a person becomes restless and agitated in the late afternoon, evening, or night

Wandering

Walking aimlessly around the facility or facility grounds

Reminiscence Therapy

Type of therapy that encourages people with Alzheimer’s Disease to remember and talk about the past

Remotivation Therapy

A type of group therapy that promotes self-esteem, self-awareness, and socialization for people with Azheimer’s disease

Validation Therapy

A type of therapy that lets people with Alzheimer’s Disease believe they are living in the past or in imagining circumstances

Hoarding

Collecting and putting things away guarded way