The growth of institutional deception in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease: the case study of Sadie Cohen

Abstract

The case study of Sadie Cohen provides a detailed, chronological glimpse of Sadie's tragic, progressive loss of memory. The Continuing Care Retirement Community, of which Sadie is a resident, has incorporated the patent use of lying, fabrication, and distortions in the care of persons afflicted with memory loss such as in Alzheimer's disease. Research suggests that such treatment may actually exacerbate the symptoms of the disease. Validation therapy appears to offer an extremely reasonable and viable alternative to lying, fabrication, and distortion but is not the only treatment technique.

Keywords:

• Alzheimer's disease
• case study
• Continuing Care Retirement Community
• ethical dilemma
• practice wisdom