psychotherapy for elderly dementia patients?

[AlexanderN]

I'm a new nurse and I recently laughed at a strange consult for a patient I crossed by. An 88 year old male patient was brought in by his wife because he was being physically abusive and hitting her. He has advanced dementia, was medically cleared and for a Psych. consultation. I thought what the heck is the point of a psych. consult for an elderly dementia patient. I stated this same case to a fellow nurse and he described that he has worked on an acquired brain injury unit many years ago and he told me the story of a patient who got brained-damage after an accident and became very aggressive from his injuries. Long story short he informed me that psychotherapy can possibly reduce aggressive behaviour in patients with medical conditions that cause different unusual behaviors.

Does anyone have experiece with/knowledge about something similar to this. That is, using psychotherapy to reduce aggressive behavior in elderly dementia patients?

[pill2008]

Psychotheraphy for Elderly Dementia Client?

In my experiences working with elderly in the nursing homes as well as in the hospitals. I noticed that some psychiatric doctors evaluate the client and prescribe the client with ativan, haldol or other psychotropic drugs which make the clients more combative or agitated. When ever I noticed these behavior from the clients. I review the medications and request the doctor who prescibed the meds. to discontinue or tipper it until it's discontinued. Most of the client becames agitated because of the side effects of the different antidepressant drugs being given. Think about it. Sometimes antidepressant medications do the opposite than good.