Dance Therapy to Calm the Tiger in the Patient

:hatparty: While working at a long term care facility about 6 years ago, there was a very strong elderly gentleman who kept falling and was prescribed a geri walker to prevent him from the falls. At HS all the CNAs dreaded helping him get dressed for bed, he was also an alzheimers patient. One day while pushing my med cart and singing I noticed he was following me and moving with the music. For some reason at bedtime they began the same ritual. I left my medcart and asked him if he wanted to dance. We got him out of his geri walker and he and I waltzed around the room with his radio on. Surprising enough, he was not combatant when we tried to get him in to bed. This became a part of his plan of care. It worked. He just wanted to dance.