Evaluation of a Workshop on Therapeutic Lying and Dementia Care for Long-Term Care Staff Supporting Persons With Dementia

Abstract

Background: Therapeutic lying is an intervention used by health care professionals (HCPs) when a person with dementia is disoriented and distressed and when all other interventions have not succeeded in deescalating the symptoms of dementia. Method: The goal of this study was to evaluate a workshop on therapeutic lying and dementia care for HCPs specializing in the care of persons living with dementia with symptoms of dementia. Seventeen HPCs, including nurses and personal support workers (PSWs), participated in the workshop and evaluation survey. Results: The workshop did not affect the attitudes of HCPs toward therapeutic lying and dementia, their sense of competence in providing care to patients with dementia, or their rate of admitting to using therapeutic lying in dementia care settings. All of the PSWs and 50.0% of the nurses admitted to using therapeutic lying as an intervention . Conclusion: Current nursing ethics standards and training practices may cause reluctance among nurses to include therapeutic lying in care plans as a last resort and as a person- and family-centered intervention to deescalate the symptoms of dementia. [ J Contin Educ Nurs . 2021;52(9):438–444.]

Balancing honesty and benevolence in dementia care: A commentary on therapeutic lies and codes of ethics

“…Yet, it is not clear if this is in response to an interpretation of codes, with research suggesting that nurses have a tendency to default to personal values, and not codes, when faced with difficult ethical choices (Blackwood & Chiarella, 2020). However, despite the suggestion of a reliance on personal values, it also appears that nurses internalize the directives of codes and may feel conflicted and reluctant to not tell the truth, believing that observance of their code makes truth‐telling obligatory (Hartung et al, 2021). Moreover, hospital staff when observed by family members of a PwD, are more likely to revert to the “socially acceptable response of telling the truth, often believing that they could trigger a complaint if they used deception” (Turner et al, 2017, p. 866).…”

“…The manner in which nurses adhere to, interpret, and implement codes in relation to truth-telling appears to be complex. However, it may be perceived that difficulties arise, at least for a segment of nurses, when deciding not to tell the truth given an awareness of the apparent obligations of their code (Hartung et al, 2021).…”