• Choose a time of day when the patient is most calm and accepting of care.
• Enlist the aid of a family member/caregiver or significant other.
• Break the task into small steps and provide short, simple instructions.
• Provide distraction, such as playing favorite music, while providing care.
• Allow the patient to participate. The nurse can put a hand over the patient's hand to guide the activity.
• Start the activity, showing the patient what to do, then let the patient take over.
• Withdraw and try again later if the patient strongly refuses care.
• Document effective and ineffective interventions to provide appropriate information for staff to give consistent, person-centered care.

Source: Adapted from Alzheimer's Association. (2020). Dental care. https://www.alz.org/help-support/caregiving/daily-care/dental-care; Eliopoulos, C. (2018). Gerontological nursing (9th ed.). Wolters Kluwer; and Konno, R., Kang, H. S., & Makimoto, K. (2014). A best-evidence review of intervention studies for minimizing resistance-to-care behaviours for older adults with dementia in nursing homes. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 70(10), 2167-2180.