Caring for someone living with dementia can change how you communicate, solve problems, and move through everyday routines. Approaches that once felt natural may no longer work the same way.
Positive Approach to Care for dementia gives families practical tools for navigating those changes. Rather than focusing only on what dementia has affected, this approach helps care partners understand brain change, recognize retained abilities, and respond with greater empathy, flexibility, and skill.
At The Kensington Falls Church, these principles help inform a compassionate approach to supporting residents and their families.
Quick Answer: What Is Positive Approach to Care for Dementia?
Positive Approach to Care, or PAC, is a dementia care philosophy and training approach developed by dementia educator Teepa Snow.
It helps care partners:
- Understand brain change
- Focus on retained abilities
- Adapt communication and support as a loved one’s needs change
The goal is not simply to “stay positive.” It is to approach dementia care with greater understanding, flexibility, dignity, and practical skill.
Learn about memory care at The Kensington Falls Church
How Positive Approach to Care Changes the Caregiving Mindset
Positive Approach to Care begins with a shift in perspective.
Instead of asking:
“How do I make my loved one cooperate?”
PAC encourages care partners to ask:
“What might my loved one be experiencing, and how can I adjust my approach?”
That shift is important, because dementia can change how a person processes information, communicates needs, or understands a situation.
A more supportive approach may mean:
- Slowing down
- Using fewer words
- Allowing more processing time
- Responding to emotion before correcting facts
- Adjusting the environment or routine
The goal is not to control the interaction, but to create a better path toward understanding, dignity, and connection.
Why Positive Approach to Care Matters for Dementia
A person living with dementia may experience an interaction very differently from the person trying to help.
Consider a shower:
- To a family caregiver, bathing may be an ordinary part of the morning routine.
- To a loved one with dementia, the same situation may involve unfamiliar instructions, unexpected touch, too many steps, or uncertainty about what is happening.
Understanding that difference changes the goal.
Instead of pushing harder to complete the task, the care partner can consider what may make the experience feel clearer, calmer, or more familiar.
Responses Can Communicate a Need
When a loved one refuses assistance, repeats a question, becomes upset, or wants to leave, look beyond the immediate response.
Ask whether the person could be:
- Confused
- Tired
- Overstimulated
- Uncomfortable
- Frightened
- Hungry or thirsty
- Looking for reassurance
- Unable to explain what they need
This does not mean every difficult interaction has an obvious solution. It means the response deserves curiosity before correction.
Care Partners Need New Skills as Dementia Changes
Loving someone deeply does not automatically teach a family how to communicate through dementia.
As cognition changes, familiar ways of reasoning, explaining, correcting, or persuading may become less effective.
Learning different dementia caregiving techniques can help families adapt without making the interaction a contest over who is right.
Meaningful Connection Still Matters
Dementia can change memory, communication, judgment, and daily abilities. It does not remove a person’s need for respect, reassurance, belonging, comfort, and connection.
Those needs should remain central to dementia care.
Core Principles of Positive Approach to Care
PAC offers a broad framework for dementia care. For families, several principles are especially useful in daily life.
1. Start With What the Person Can Still Do
Avoid measuring every interaction by what has been lost.
Instead, notice retained abilities, familiar interests, preferences, and routines.
A loved one may still enjoy:
- Folding towels
- Listening to favorite music
- Walking with you
- Looking through photographs
- Helping with a familiar household task
- Participating in spiritual traditions
- Choosing between two familiar options
The activity matters less than the opportunity to participate in a way that feels comfortable and meaningful.
2. Approach With Calm and Respect
Before asking your loved one to do something, consider how you enter the interaction:
- Give the person time to notice you.
- Speak calmly.
- Avoid rushing directly into instructions.
A thoughtful approach can make the next step easier to understand.
3. Connect Before Completing the Task
Caregiving often comes with a long list of things that need to happen.
Get dressed. Eat breakfast. Take medication. Leave for an appointment.
When possible, create connection before focusing on completion:
- Greet your loved one.
- Make sure you have their attention.
- Explain the next step simply.
The task still matters, but the relationship comes first.
4. Respond to the Emotion Before Correcting the Facts
A loved one may say something that does not match the current time, place, or situation. Correcting the facts may not address what the person is feeling.
If someone says, “I need to go home,” consider what home may represent at that moment. It could mean familiarity, security, family, or comfort.
Acknowledging that feeling may create a better path forward than arguing about the address.
5. Pay Attention to Nonverbal Communication
Words are only one part of an interaction.
Facial expression, posture, proximity, volume, and pace can also communicate reassurance or urgency.
Use a calm voice and allow enough time for your loved one to process what you have said.
6. Adjust the Environment When Needed
Sometimes the surroundings contribute to confusion or distress.
Consider whether the person is experiencing too much:
- Noise
- Clutter
- Conversation
- Movement
- Unfamiliar activity
- Competing instructions
- Choice
Simplifying the environment may make it easier to focus on the interaction.
7. Expect Support Needs to Change
A technique that works today may not always work tomorrow.
Dementia progresses differently for each person. Communication, routines, and levels of assistance should evolve with the individual’s needs.
Flexibility is an important part of dementia care.
Practical Positive Approach to Care Techniques Families Can Try
Understanding the principles is the first step. Applying them in real life is where families often need the most help.
Start with a few simple techniques.
Pause Before You Begin
Before making a request, stop for a moment and consider how you are approaching.
Whenever possible:
- Approach in a place where your loved one can notice you.
- Give them time to recognize your presence.
- Greet them calmly.
- Introduce the next step using simple language.
- Allow time for a response.
PAC emphasizes adapting the care partner’s approach to better support someone whose brain is changing.
Say What Is About to Happen
Unexpected movement or touch can be confusing.
Short statements can provide context:
- “I’m going to sit beside you.”
- “Let’s walk to the kitchen together.”
- “Here’s your sweater.”
Avoid adding several instructions at once.
Offer Two Simple Choices
Open-ended questions can require a great deal of processing.
Instead of asking:
“What do you want to wear today?”
try:
“Would you like the blue shirt or the green shirt?”
The person still has a choice, but the decision is more manageable.
Listen for the Feeling Behind the Words
If your loved one says something that seems inaccurate, first consider the emotion underneath it.
For example, “I want to go home” may express a desire for comfort or familiarity.
You might respond by acknowledging that feeling and then gently moving toward something reassuring.
Use Familiar Routines as Points of Connection
Longstanding routines can sometimes provide useful cues.
Depending on the individual, that may include:
- Favorite music
- Regular mealtimes
- Familiar photographs
- Household tasks
- Walking
- A longtime hobby
- Spiritual practices
Choose activities based on the person’s history, preferences, and present abilities rather than assuming one activity works for everyone.
Know When to Pause
If an interaction is becoming increasingly distressing, repeating the same request more firmly may not help.
When there is no immediate safety concern, consider pausing.
Reconnect first, then try a different approach or return to the task later.
Everyday Examples of Positive Approach to Care
No script works for every person or situation. These examples show how the same caregiving goal can be approached differently.
| Situation | Less Helpful Response | More Supportive Approach |
| A loved one repeats a question. | “I already told you.” | “You’re wondering when we’re leaving. We’re going after lunch.” |
| A loved one does not want to bathe. | “You have to shower now.” | “Let’s freshen up before lunch. Would you like the blue towel or the white towel?” |
| A loved one says, “I want to go home.” | “You are home.” | Acknowledge the desire for comfort or familiarity, then gently redirect. |
| Dressing becomes upsetting. | “This will only take a minute.” | “Let’s pause. I can see this is frustrating. We can slow down.” |
| A loved one resists assistance. | Repeat the instruction more firmly. | Pause and consider whether something feels confusing, uncomfortable, or frightening. |
The purpose is not to memorize the “right” response.
Instead, notice whether changing your words, pace, environment, or expectations could make the interaction more supportive.
Positive Approach to Care as Memory Needs Change
Dementia support should not remain static. Someone experiencing early cognitive changes may benefit from reminders, cueing, structure, and opportunities to maintain independence.
As dementia progresses, the person may need more support with communication, daily routines, personal care, safety, comfort, and engagement.
At The Kensington Falls Church, three levels of memory support allow care to evolve with residents’ changing needs.
The Kensington Club: Early Memory Care
The Kensington Club provides early memory care for new and current assisted living residents.
It is intended for residents experiencing mild cognitive changes who may benefit from additional structure, support, engagement, and connection while remaining part of assisted living.
Connections: Early to Mid-Stage Memory Care
Connections focuses on early to mid-stage memory care.
Residents may benefit from greater structure, personalized routines, dementia-informed communication, and support designed around changing cognitive needs.
Haven: Mid to Late-Stage Memory Care
Haven focuses on mid to late-stage memory care.
As dementia progresses, residents may need increased personal support, calmer communication, sensory engagement, comfort, and assistance adapted to their abilities.
Positive Approach to Care at The Kensington Falls Church
At The Kensington Falls Church, dementia care begins with knowing the individual behind the diagnosis.
We use PAC training and education as part of our approach to dementia care.
That philosophy aligns naturally with personalized memory support.
Our approach centers on:
- Understanding each resident’s history, preferences, and abilities
- Adapting communication as cognition changes
- Supporting meaningful daily routines and engagement
- Partnering with families as needs evolve
- Providing different levels of memory support through The Kensington Club, Connections, and Haven
Our life enrichment approach provides opportunities for engagement that reflect residents’ interests, abilities, and preferences.
Underlying our relationship with every resident and family is a commitment we take personally: Our Promise is to love and care for your family as we do our own.
When Might a Family Need More Dementia Support?
There is no single milestone that tells every family when professional memory care is the right next step.
Instead, look at the overall pattern of your loved one’s needs and your family’s ability to meet them consistently.
It may be helpful to explore additional support when:
- Daily routines are becoming harder to maintain.
- Confusion or distress is occurring more often.
- Personal care is becoming difficult to provide.
- Safety concerns are increasing.
- Sleep or daily rhythms have become difficult to manage.
- Your loved one needs more structure or supervision.
- Cognitive changes are creating new care needs.
- Caregiving demands are affecting the family’s health or relationships.
These signs do not automatically mean a move is necessary. They are reasons to reassess whether the current care plan provides the right level of safety, structure, connection, and support.
For additional education and family support, check out our caregiver support and resources.
Questions to Ask a Memory Care Community
When comparing memory care communities, ask not only what support is available, but how that support is provided.
Useful questions include:
- How are team members trained in dementia communication?
- Do team members receive Positive Approach to Care training?
- How do you get to know each resident’s routines and preferences?
- How do you respond when a resident is confused or distressed?
- How do you adapt support as cognitive needs change?
- How are families involved in care planning?
- How do you support dignity during personal care?
- How is daily engagement personalized?
- How do your memory care neighborhoods differ?
- How will you communicate with our family as needs change?
These questions can help you understand whether a community’s philosophy matches your loved one’s needs and your family’s priorities.
FAQs: Positive Approach to Care
No. PAC provides dementia education and practical care skills for families, friends, professional care partners, and organizations supporting people living with brain change.
PAC is not simply about agreeing or avoiding difficult topics. It focuses on understanding how brain change may influence an interaction and adapting communication in a respectful, practical way. That may include acknowledging an emotion before redirecting, simplifying information, allowing more processing time, or changing the environment.
Yes. Many PAC principles are applicable to everyday family caregiving. Families can practice calmer approaches, simpler choices, supportive body language, familiar routines, and greater attention to the emotions or needs behind a loved one’s response. PAC specifically offers resources for families and friends caring for people living with dementia.
PAC principles can inform how team members communicate, approach personal care, respond to distress, support routines, and maintain meaningful relationships with residents. At The Kensington Falls Church, PAC training and education are incorporated into the community’s dementia care approach.
The three levels support different stages of changing memory needs:
• The Kensington Club: Early memory care for new and current assisted living residents
• Connections: Early to mid-stage memory care
• Haven: Mid to late-stage memory care
This continuum allows support to change as a resident’s cognitive needs evolve.
Finding a More Supportive Way Forward
Dementia can change how a loved one communicates, understands a situation, and manages everyday routines. It can also require families to change how they offer support.
Positive Approach to Care for dementia provides a framework for making that adjustment with greater understanding.
As needs change, additional support may also become part of the conversation. Our team is available to learn about your loved one, answer your family’s questions, and explain how our memory care options support different stages of dementia.
Talk with our team about memory care at The Kensington Falls Church.