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January/February 2012 |
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The Hard End of the Day:
Shedding New Light on Sundowning
"Sundowning” is a term used to describe the agitation, pacing, irritability and disorientation that many
people with Alzheimer’s experience during the late afternoon, evening or night. For those who work or
live with older adults who have dementia, Sundown Syndrome
or “sundowning” is one of the most challenging situations they encounter
on a daily basis. Several years ago, staff at the nursing home on the Beatitudes
Campus in Phoenix, Arizona determined they had a serious problem with
sundowning and set about finding some solutions.
As Tena Alonzo, Director of Research and Dementia Programs at Beatitudes, describes it, “In the dementia unit,
everyday at the evening shift change, the chorus would start: a few people would call out and then everyone in the
vicinity would join in. You could hear ‘help me, help me’ and ‘oh, shut up’ continuously.
Perhaps it wouldn’t have been so bad if that’s where the challenging behavior stopped, but
this was just the beginning of the evening! People who were easy to get along with the rest
of day would suddenly want to fight with anyone who crossed their path. Others would
pace the floor looking for an exit to escape. Dinner was disastrous as no one could hear
themselves think. Visiting families and friends were distressed and upset. After several hours
dealing with agitated residents and family visitors who were sometimes inconsolable, the
exhausted staff would finally get everyone in bed so the whole process could begin again
the next day.”
As the staff looked at the frequency and severity of residents experiencing sundowning,
they thought there must be something that can be done about this situation. Is sundowning
just a part of the disease? Why do some older adults with dementia act so differently in the afternoon? Isn’t there
something we can do to help everyone be more comfortable? The answers to these questions didn’t come all at
once, but over time some valuable lessons were learned about older adults with dementia.
In considering possible solutions to sundowning, the Beatitudes staff had something in their favor. They had recently
begun implementing a philosophy where achieving comfort was the overall staff goal. This comfort philosophy
was not about an end-of-life hospice focus, but rather about meeting the needs of people with dementia the way
they would do for themselves if they were able. This was a big change as it meant stepping away from the schedules
and routines that had been established to embrace the routine of the person with dementia.
To begin, the team decided to observe everyone residing on the dementia unit between the hours of 2:30 PM and
9:00 PM. This observation, which occurred over several days, shed light on some interesting scenarios. The staff saw
that many residents looked tired and frazzled and wondered if they would be more comfortable if they were to lie
down and rest. Much of the time these rest periods were not necessarily convenient for the staff, and it was a little
challenging at first to envision the perspective of the resident for some staff members. The team decided if someone
looked tired, no matter when that occurred, they would assist him or her to rest either in a comfortable chair or on
the bed (some prefer a chair or the couch, some may only lay on top of their bed, with a throw, while others prefer to change and get back into bed--the
decision is based on the resident’s comfort).
After some discussion, the staff also
agreed that it didn’t matter if the rest period
was during a meal or an activity. After
a few months, everyone accepted the
“rest when tired philosophy.” As residents
started to sleep when they were tired and
wake when they were rested, the change
was obvious. They were happier and
didn’t seem to need so much psychotropic medication. The nurses didn’t give
PRN medication for agitation any longer and felt comfortable asking the physicians
to begin tapering the medications. They started with the anti-anxiety
medications because almost every resident was receiving one, and then worked
on tapering the anti-psychotics. While not every resident was comfortable without
psychotropic medication, most were.
This first phase of addressing the issues with sundowning had been very successful,
but staff felt there was more work to do. Next, they observed the overall unit
environment (or milieu as they prefer to call it). What was seen and heard was
appalling. At the evening shift change, the commotion increased significantly.
Staff were used to speaking all at once and rushing around trying to complete
tasks before end of shift or gearing up to begin their work. This cacophony and
disruption were compounded by a television in the common area and general
noise on the unit. Watching the residents respond to the din was enlightening.
Sometimes people covered their ears or tried to get away from it. Some just
looked scared and bewildered. It became clear to the staff that they needed to
stop talking so loudly and slow down. The television that had been so prominently
displayed in the common area, but never really used by residents, was
moved. The milieu became quiet, and everyone responded positively to the
change in the environment.
It can be easy to forget that being confused and unable to make sense out of the
environment can be extremely tiring for the person with Alzheimer’s, and overstimulation
only makes this worse.
The staff was amazed that making comfort the goal of everything had such a
positive impact on the residents and on themselves. Once the changes were in
place, no one called out, became angry or upset or tried to leave the unit. Staff
members became sane again, and many reported they enjoyed their jobs more
since the changes were implemented. Families and friends increased their visits in
the afternoon and evening. Dining became a wonderful event which resembled
a restaurant setting rather than a nursing home dining room.
As Ms. Alonzo relates, “It’s been almost 14 years since we’ve experienced the pain
of sundowning here. We still do the same things, still make comfort the goal of
everything, and both the residents and the staff are better for it.”
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| Our thanks to the Herman Goldman Foundation for their generous support of this newsletter. |
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| Resources |
Beatitudes Campus
www.beatitudescampus.org
For more information, contact Tena Alonzo at talonzo@beatitudescampus.org or call 602-433-6182.
Free Comfort Care Guide
Comfort Care: A Guide for Families of People with Dementia Living in Care Facilities.
http://www.alz.org/illinois
16th Annual Symposium
The Comprehensive
Approach to Dementia
Thursday, March 8, 2012
A Practical Update for Practitioners
in Mental Health, Primary
Care and Long Term Care Settings.
http://www.mecme.org
Sponsored by Albert Einstein
College of Medicine and
Montefiore Medical Center,
jointly with the Geriatric Mental
Health Alliance of New York
and the Alzheimer’s Association,
NYC Chapter. |
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