Sources & real help

This guide puts well-settled dementia-care advice into plain steps, in our own words.

Helplines: verified

• Alzheimer's Association 24/7 Helpline: 1-800-272-3900. Free, every day, around the clock; masters-level clinicians; 200+ languages. alz.org/helpline
• Eldercare Locator: 1-800-677-1116 (Mon–Fri). Connects you to your local Area Agency on Aging for respite, day programs, meals, transport. eldercare.acl.gov
• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988. For dark moments of your own, anytime.
• NIA's ADEAR Center: 1-800-438-4380. The National Institute on Aging's Alzheimer's education and referral line.
• Wandering response: MedicAlert's Safe & Found: ID jewelry plus a 24/7 response team. Enrollment is through MedicAlert itself, 1-800-432-5378 or medicalert.org (a paid plan). The Alzheimer's Association remains MedicAlert's named partner, but its helpline no longer enrolls you.

Behavior, agitation & sundowning

• National Institute on Aging: Coping with agitation, aggression, and sundowning (light, routine, calm, lowered stimulation; the basis of our sundowning and agitation steps).
• Alzheimer's Association: Sleep issues and sundowning.
• NIA: Managing personality and behavior changes (don't argue, reassure, redirect).

Sudden confusion: the "call the doctor today" rule

• Cedars-Sinai: How UTIs can trigger delirium and worsen dementia.
• Systematic review: UTI-induced delirium in elderly patients (sudden-onset confusion is frequently infection or medication, and treatable: the single rule this guide repeats most).

Hospital stays & discharge rights

• Medicare: Fast appeals (the "Important Message from Medicare," the day-of-discharge deadline, coverage during the review, and the BFCC-QIO reviewers: the basis of the discharge guidance on the hospital page).
• Medicare: Skilled nursing facility care (the 3-day qualifying inpatient stay, why observation and ER time don't count, and the waivers worth asking about).
• National Institute on Aging: Taking a person with Alzheimer's disease to the hospital.
• Poison Help: poison.org, 1-800-222-1222, free and answered around the clock (the emergency-page guidance).

Late-stage decisions

• American Geriatrics Society: Feeding tubes in advanced dementia: position statement (careful hand feeding is at least as good as tube feeding for survival, aspiration, and comfort; tube feeding carries real burdens: the basis of our "comfort feeding" guidance).
• Alzheimer's Association: Feeding Issues in Advanced Dementia (free, and the source of the four findings on the feeding tube section: tube feeding does not improve nutrition, does not prevent aspiration pneumonia, has no evidence of reducing pressure sores, and shows no average difference in longevity; also the Association's position that withholding artificial nutrition is ethically permissible in the end stages, and that the decision belongs to the family).

The Bredesen protocol (ReCODE)

• Journal of Alzheimer's Disease: Precision Medicine Approach to Alzheimer's Disease: Successful Pilot Project (2022, PMID 35811518. The peer-reviewed study behind the protocol: 25 people, nine months, no comparison group: mean MoCA 24.6 to 27.6, with 19 of 25 improving and 3 declining; 21 of 25 improved on the computer test; no serious adverse events).
• Alzheimer's Research & Therapy: Effects of intensive lifestyle changes on the progression of mild cognitive impairment or early dementia due to Alzheimer's disease (Ornish et al., 2024, PMID 38849944. A randomized controlled trial, 51 people, 20 weeks: the lifestyle group improved on thinking and daily-function measures while the control group worsened; the authors conclude it "may significantly improve cognition and function" in many patients).
• Journal of Alzheimer's Disease: Observed Improvement in Cognition During a Personalized Lifestyle Intervention in People with Cognitive Decline (Sandison et al., 2023, PMID 37355891. 34 people, six months, no comparison group: mean MoCA rose from 19.6 to 21.7).
• Preprints.org: Precision Medicine Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease: Successful Randomized Controlled Trial (Toups, Bredesen and others; posted 30 December 2025, version 3 on 20 April 2026, doi 10.20944/preprints202512.2694.v3; registered as NCT05894954. 73 people, nine months, 50 on ReCODE and 23 on usual care, testers blinded: overall computer-test score 92 to 106 on ReCODE vs 97 to 92; MoCA rose in both, the difference not significant; mostly mild stomach and diet-adjustment side effects; 7 of 50 stopped early. Read 2026-10-03).
• Biomedicines: ReCODE: A Personalized, Targeted, Multi-Factorial Therapeutic Program for Reversal of Cognitive Decline (2021, PMID 34680464. 255 people in ordinary ReCODE practice; of the 151 starting at MoCA 19 or higher, 50% improved, 23% held steady, 27% declined).
• The Lancet: FINGER (2015, PMID 25771249. 1,260 at-risk people aged 60 to 77, two years: a multi-part lifestyle programme beat general health advice on a thinking test battery).
• JAMA: US POINTER (2025, PMID 40720610. 2,111 at-risk sedentary people aged 60 to 79, two years: both groups improved, the structured programme more than the self-guided one).
• Apollo Health: the ReCODE practitioner locator and its program FAQ (below): the source for the first visit, the one-year contract, the ReCODE Report and the follow-up schedule on the guide.
• PubMed: all indexed publications by Bredesen DE (checked 2026-10-03: the 2025 randomized trial is posted in full online and not yet in a journal. This is the search to repeat).
• Apollo Health: ReCODE program FAQ (every cost figure we quote, from the seller's own published numbers: the $945 lab panel, the six-month retest cadence, and the $150 to $450 monthly supplement range).

The Phoenix-area doctors we name

• Apollo Health: ReCODE practitioner locator (counts per town, never names; checked 1 October 2026).
• Licences and board orders: the Arizona Medical Board and the Arizona osteopathic board, each tested against a doctor who has an order.
• Board certification: the emergency medicine and family medicine boards' own directories.
• Medicare: the CMS opt-out list, what opting out means, and enrolling only to order and refer.
• Mayo Clinic Arizona (read in a browser 3 October 2026; its pages refuse scripts): integrative medicine in Arizona (what is offered, 5881 E. Mayo Blvd., Phoenix), requesting an appointment (no referral in most cases, 480-301-8484), costs and insurance (massage and yoga paid by card), insurance questions (Original Medicare yes, non-contracted Medicare Advantage no) and the Alzheimer's treatment clinic (Rochester now, Scottsdale "in the future"). Medicare: acupuncture coverage (chronic low back pain only, up to 20 visits a year).

Choosing and checking a doctor

• American Board of Medical Specialties: Is my doctor board certified? (ABMS's own free lookup, and the reason we tell people to read a certification precisely: it shows what a doctor is certified in, and a certificate from a private institute is a different thing).
• National Institute on Aging: Find an Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (the NIA-funded centers, listed state by state with phone numbers, which help with diagnosis and management and not only research: the "deepest bench" pointer on the doctor page. If this link moves, search nia.nih.gov for "Alzheimer's Disease Research Center").
• CMS: Open Payments (the free federal database of payments from drug and device companies to individual providers, searchable by name. With it, the doctor page's "do you have a financial interest in this?" can be asked of a conventional prescriber as readily as of a clinic that sells what it recommends. Data shown currently runs January 2019 to December 2025).
• State medical boards: not linked to an aggregator. Every state runs its own free license-and-discipline lookup; the one national front door we checked (docinfo.org) blocks automated verification, so we cannot vouch for it. Search your state plus "medical board license lookup".

The dementia medicines

• National Institute on Aging: How is Alzheimer's disease treated? (the plain "no known intervention cures Alzheimer's"; the cholinesterase inhibitors and memantine, what they do and that they lose effectiveness as the disease advances; the bathroom-independence example we quote; the dosage and side-effect list including falls; lecanemab and donanemab for early disease only, with PET or spinal-fluid confirmation, MRI monitoring and Medicare Part B partial coverage. Note: its stated review date is older than some of the drugs it describes, which is why the anti-amyloid facts were cross-checked below).
• Alzheimer's Association: Medications for memory, cognition & dementia-related behaviors (the cross-check, and the fair two-sided framing of ARIA we use: common, usually symptomless, usually temporary, and capable of being serious; plus the FDA-encouraged ApoE ε4 testing before treatment).

Bedbound care: skin, moving, mouth & feeding

• Alzheimer's Association: Late-stage caregiving (repositioning at least every two hours, never lifting by the arms or shoulders, not massaging lotion into bony areas, range-of-motion movement two or three times a day while the muscles are warm, and the oral-hygiene-to-pneumonia link: most of when they can't get up anymore).
• National Institute on Aging: Care in the last stages of Alzheimer's disease (the body mechanics for moving someone without injuring yourself, the washcloth-to-hold trick, standing on the weak side, dry-mouth comfort measures, and reading pain in a person who cannot report it).
• MedlinePlus: Preventing pressure ulcers (the head-to-toe map of danger spots, floating the heels with a pillow under the calves and never under the knees, the thirty-degree head-of-bed limit, draw sheets instead of dragging, and no donut cushions).
• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality: Skin assessment (the US source behind the three checks that don't depend on skin color: extra light for heels and sacrum, knowing the person's normal tone and comparing left with right, and pressing to see whether a discolored area blanches. States outright that changes in coloration may be particularly difficult to see in darkly pigmented skin).
• MedlinePlus: How to care for pressure sores (stage 1 is a reddened area that does not turn white when pressed; a deep tissue injury reads dark purple or maroon).
• NHS: Pressure ulcers (the plain red-on-white, purple-or-blue-on-black-and-brown wording we use alongside the US sources above).
• Medicare: Home health services coverage (you pay nothing; covered skilled nursing explicitly includes wound care for pressure sores and caregiver education; the homebound rule that does not count adult day care or religious services against you; and the limits: no 24-hour care and no custodial-only care).
• Medicare: Durable medical equipment and hospital beds (Part B, doctor's order for use at home, 20% of the approved amount after the deductible, and why you ask a supplier about assignment first).

Placement, hospice & time off work

• Long-Term Care Ombudsman program: ltcombudsman.org (free, federally mandated resident advocates covering nursing homes and assisted living; the locator behind the guidance on choosing a care home).
• Medicare: Care Compare (inspection results for nursing homes and hospices; assisted living and memory care are state-licensed and not listed there, which is why our guidance says inspection reports over star ratings).
• Medicare: Hospice care coverage (eligibility, the two-doctor certification, recertification past six months, costs, respite, and the right to change providers: the mechanics on the last season page).
• U.S. Department of Labor: Family and Medical Leave Act (the 12-week job-protected leave, intermittent use, and who is covered: the basis of the money page's FMLA section).

Toileting and hygiene

• Alzheimer's Society (UK): Tips to prevent UTIs in people with dementia (read 2026-10-01; no review date shown. Wipe and wash front to back after the toilet, so bacteria do not reach the bladder. Corrected on the "A toilet accident" card the same day: it said back to front).

Sleep: the day after a bad night

• National Institute on Aging: Sleep and older adults (reviewed 2025-02-06; read 2026-10-01. Poor sleep can make dementia symptoms worse; caffeine late in the day; big meals and drinks before bed; rugs and cords).
• National Institute on Aging: Coping with agitation, aggression, and sundowning (reviewed 2024-07-17; read 2026-10-01. Too little sleep, being pushed to bathe, noise and crowds as causes of agitation; a snack or drink to calm. The same page as the older link in "Behavior, agitation & sundowning" above).
• National Institute on Aging: Managing sleep problems in Alzheimer's disease (reviewed 2024-07-11; read 2026-10-01. Limit late naps; the same wake and bed times; a cool, low-lit bedroom; avoid caffeine and alcohol).
• US Department of Veterans Affairs: Dementia caregiver support: sleep, illness and pain (updated 2026-08-03; read 2026-10-01. "Rest without sleep"; the signs of delirium, including the quiet, sleepy kind; dehydration; no sleep pills or tranquilizers during delirium; nightlight shadows; screens off during night waking).
• NICE (UK): Delirium: prevention, diagnosis and management (CG103) (published 2010-07-28, updated 2023-01-18; read 2026-10-01. Sudden onset, swings through the day, much more alert or much sleepier than usual; poor sleep as a sign. Written for hospitals and care homes).
• NHS (UK): Sudden confusion (delirium) (reviewed 2024-05-28; read 2026-10-01. Infection, a new medicine and a fall as causes; sudden confusion is urgent. Its emergency numbers are the UK's).
• JMIR Aging: Sleep patterns and dementia symptoms, day by day (Cho and others, published 2026-03-23; read 2026-10-01. 154 people tracked for 14 days: more night waking came before more irritability the next day, and some daytime symptoms came before worse sleep. One observational study).
• Archives of Internal Medicine: Measured sleep and the risk of falls in older women (Stone and others, 2008; read 2026-10-01. Five hours or less a night raised the odds of repeated falls in women aged 70 and up. Not a dementia sample).
• American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias: Sleep quality and the risk of falls in dementia (Eshkoor and others, published 2013-05-22; read 2026-10-01. Poor sleep linked to falls in 1,210 people with dementia; a link, not proof).
• Journal of Applied Gerontology: Poor sleep and risk of falls in older adults: a systematic review (Min and Slattum, published 2016-12-20; read 2026-10-01. The overall picture is mixed; no study measured falls the day after one bad night).
• CDC NIOSH: Napping and sleep inertia (reviewed 2020-03-31; read 2026-10-01. A 15 to 20 minute nap can improve alertness; grogginess usually lasts up to about 30 minutes; caffeine on waking. Written for shift workers, applied here to carers).
• CDC NIOSH: Driving: preventing crashes (reviewed 2020-03-31; read 2026-10-01. Window-down and radio-up tricks are not supported; almost 60% of people who fell asleep driving were on trips under an hour).

Sleep options, medicines and supplements

• Science: Sleep drives metabolite clearance from the adult brain (Xie et al., 2013, PMID 24136970. In mice, sleep widened the space between brain cells by 60% and sped the clearance of amyloid: the "brain cleans house" line on the sleep page and the ReCODE guide).
• PNAS: β-Amyloid accumulation in the human brain after one night of sleep deprivation (Shokri-Kojori et al., 2018, PMID 29632177. 20 healthy adults; amyloid rose in the hippocampus and thalamus).
• Nature Communications: Association of sleep duration in middle and old age with incidence of dementia (Sabia et al., 2021, PMID 33879784. 7,959 people over 25 years; persistent short sleep linked to a 30% higher dementia risk).
• BMJ: Sedative hypnotics in older people with insomnia: meta-analysis of risks and benefits (Glass et al., 2005, PMID 16284208. 24 trials, 2,417 people over 60: about 25 more minutes of sleep, adverse cognitive events 4.78 times as common).
• Cell: Norepinephrine-mediated slow vasomotion drives glymphatic clearance during sleep (Hauglund et al., 2025, PMID 39788123. In mice, the sleep aid zolpidem suppressed the brain's overnight clearance).
• Cochrane Library: Non-drug treatments for sleep problems in dementia (Wilfling and others, published 2023-01-03; read 2026-10-01. Activity and carer programs may modestly help night sleep, low certainty; the one trial of cutting daytime sleep found little change. Mostly US nursing-home trials).
• The Lancet Healthy Longevity: DREAMS START versus usual care (Rapaport and others, October 2024; read 2026-10-01. Six one-hour carer sessions lowered sleep disturbance at 8 months in 377 families in England. Publicly funded; the developers evaluated their own program).
• Journal of the American Geriatrics Society: NITE-AD: a nighttime insomnia program for Alzheimer's (McCurry and others, 2005; read 2026-10-01. Sleep habits, a daily walk, light and carer skills cut night waking in 36 families. Small).
• NICE (UK): Dementia: assessment, management and support (NG97) (published 2018-06-20; read 2026-10-01. A personal mix of sleep habits, daylight and exercise; do not offer melatonin for insomnia in Alzheimer's; antipsychotics only for severe distress or risk of harm).
• Cochrane Library: Drug treatments for sleep problems in dementia (McCleery and Sharpley, published 2020-11-15; read 2026-10-01. Melatonin: little or no effect; trazodone: one small trial; orexin blockers: about 28 more minutes a night; no trials of benzodiazepines or Z-drugs in dementia).
• American Academy of Sleep Medicine: Guideline for circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorders, 2015 update (published 2015-10-15; read 2026-10-01. Weakly against melatonin, weakly for light therapy, and strongly against sleep medicines, for older people with dementia and irregular sleep. Over ten years old; no update found).
• American Academy of Sleep Medicine: Management of REM sleep behavior disorder (Howell and others, April 2023; read 2026-10-01. A conditional role for melatonin, and for clonazepam, when people act out their dreams).
• Alzheimer's Society (UK): Sleep problems and treatments for people with dementia (no date shown; read 2026-10-01. Memory medicines that can cause insomnia; melatonin for acting out dreams; common physical causes of poor sleep).
• Alzheimer's Society (UK): How to support someone with dementia to sleep better at night (no date shown; read 2026-10-01. Morning daylight; caffeine-free drinks from lunchtime; a bedroom of about 18°C).
• Alzheimer's Association: "Sleep issues and sundowning", already listed above (no date shown; re-read 2026-10-01. Morning or early-afternoon appointments and bathing; avoid alcohol, caffeine and nicotine; lights on before dusk).
• American Geriatrics Society: 2023 Beers Criteria, the list of medicines to avoid in older adults (published 2023; table read 2026-10-01 from the UConn copy. Avoid diphenhydramine and doxylamine, benzodiazepines and Z-drugs; caution with mirtazapine; antipsychotics only when other steps fail).
• DailyMed (US National Library of Medicine): labels for Tylenol PM, Advil PM, ZzzQuil and Unisom (labels dated 2026; read 2026-10-01. Which "PM" products contain diphenhydramine and which contain doxylamine, including Unisom SleepTabs versus SleepGels).
• DailyMed: Belsomra (suvorexant) label (Merck, revised March 2025; read 2026-10-01. The 285-person Alzheimer's trial; falls 2% versus 0%; next-day drowsiness and sleepwalking-type behavior. The trial was the maker's own).
• DailyMed: Dayvigo (lemborexant) label (Eisai, revised February 2025; read 2026-10-01. Higher fall risk in older people; no dementia content).
• Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease: Lemborexant in Alzheimer's with irregular sleep (Moline and others, 2021; read 2026-10-01. One exploratory trial in 62 people; preliminary only).
• DailyMed: Seroquel (quetiapine) label, boxed warning (revised April 2025; read 2026-10-01. Higher risk of death in older people with dementia treated with antipsychotics; not approved for dementia-related psychosis).
• DailyMed: Aricept (donepezil) label (Eisai, revised December 2021; read 2026-10-01. Insomnia and abnormal dreams as side effects; the label directs evening dosing).
• Journal of the American Geriatrics Society: Low-dose trazodone, benzodiazepines and fall injuries in nursing homes (Bronskill and others, published 2018-09-24; read 2026-10-01. New trazodone users had fall injuries as often as new benzodiazepine users. Observational, Ontario).
• Psychogeriatrics: Mirtazapine does not improve sleep in Alzheimer's disease (Scoralick and others, published 2016-01-27; read 2026-10-01. A 24-person pilot: no better night sleep, more daytime sleepiness).
• BMC Medicine: Harms of Z-drugs for sleep in people with dementia (Richardson and others, published 2020-11-24; read 2026-10-01. Higher-strength use linked to more fractures, falls and stroke in 27,090 people in England. A link, not proof of cause).
• Cochrane Library: Light therapy in dementia (Forbes and others, published 2014-02-26; read 2026-10-01. No clear effect on sleep, agitation or thinking).
• American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias: Light therapy for sleep, agitation and depression in dementia (Fong and others, 2023; read 2026-10-01. Slightly fewer night awakenings across 11 trials; no change in time awake, agitation or depression).
• Journal of Applied Gerontology: A weighted blanket for people living with dementia (Harris and Titler, published 2022-06-24; read 2026-10-01. A 21-family feasibility study with no comparison group).
• Frontiers in Sleep: A weighted blanket after brain injury (Edwards, published 2024-01-24; read 2026-10-01. A 10-person pilot stopped early: patients found the blanket hot, heavy and uncomfortable. Not a dementia study).
• National Council on Aging: Best weighted blankets 2026 (dated 2026-09-24; read 2026-10-01. The safety advice, and the $160 to $280 range for the models it tested. The review earns shop commissions).
• Sleep Medicine Reviews: Noise as a sleep aid: a systematic review (Riedy and others, published 2020-09-09; read 2026-10-01. Very low evidence that steady noise helps sleep; it may disturb sleep and hearing. Not a dementia study).

A calmer room, and bed rails

• Dementia Services Development Centre, University of Stirling: Improving the design of housing to assist people with dementia (2013; read 2026-10-01 from the Housing LIN copy. Double the usual light; mirrors; nightlight and sun shadows; noise; contrast; floors one even tone. Mostly expert opinion, as it says itself).
• Alzheimer's Society (UK): Factsheet 819: Making your home dementia friendly (reviewed March 2026; read 2026-10-01. Closing curtains at dusk; covering mirrors; the toilet light; clutter; contrast for toilet seats and switches. The charity sells some of the products it mentions).
• National Institute on Aging: Home safety and Alzheimer's disease (reviewed 2024-08-02; read 2026-10-01. Fewer and smaller mirrors; nightlights; floors and walls. Its advice to install bed rails conflicts with the FDA's warning below).
• US Food and Drug Administration: Adult portable bed rails: advice for consumers and caregivers (current as of 2023-02-27; read 2026-10-01. People with dementia are at higher risk of getting trapped; the alternatives: a low bed, roll guards, foam bumpers, a concave mattress).
• Clinical Nutrition: Visual contrast and food and drink intake in advanced Alzheimer's (Dunne and others, 2004; read 2026-10-01. Nine men ate and drank more from red plates and cups than from white. Very small).

When they hit, and if police come

For when they hit, grab or threaten you and if police come. All read on October 1, 2026, except where a row says October 3.

• National Institute on Aging: Coping with agitation, aggression, and sundowning (distance, reassurance, triggers, telling 911 about the dementia). Reviewed July 2024.
• Alzheimer's Association: Aggression and anger (what happened just before, best time of day, telling responders the dementia causes the aggression).
• Dementia UK: Keeping safe when you care for someone with dementia (arm's length, sideways stance, a barrier, a room that locks, letting them leave, settling time, the safety plan). Updated October 2023.
• Alzheimer's Society: Preventing and managing aggressive behaviour (no restraint, no blame afterward).
• Alzheimer's Society: Behaviour that challenges: looking after yourself (shock, guilt and anger are normal).
• County of Sonoma Behavioral Health: Guidelines for effective communication with 911 dispatch (call away from them, speak calmly, weapons, no sirens, stay on the line).
• NAMI: Calling 911 and talking with police (asking for CIT, what to expect, handcuffs). Modified October 2025.
• NAMI: Crisis Intervention Team programs.
• Trillium Health Resources: Crisis Intervention Team, and NAMI Pinellas: C.I.T. (callers can ask for a CIT officer).
• Positive Approach to Care: 10 steps to de-escalating a dementia care crisis (remove the threat; back off if you are seen as it). A training company; archive copy.
• UCLA Alzheimer's and Dementia Care Program: Aggressive language and behavior (stop, offer to come back, give choices).
• NHS: Animal and human bites (washing a bite, when to get urgent or emergency care). Reviewed October 2025.
• VA Caregiver Support Program: Caregiving tips: dementia (medical check for sudden change, pain, bathing tips, the support line). Updated July 2025.
• Alzheimer's Association: Treatments for behavior (causes to rule out; drugs never to sedate or restrain).
• Infectious Diseases Society of America: Asymptomatic bacteriuria guideline, 2019 (a positive urine test without symptoms).
• SAMHSA: 988 frequently asked questions (calling about someone else, mobile crisis availability). Updated December 2025.
• Wharton and Ford, dementia care recipient violence against caregivers, J Gerontol Soc Work 2014 (more than 1 in 5; a thin evidence base).
• Isham, Bradbury-Jones and Hewison, female family carers' experiences of violent behaviour, Sociol Health Illn 2020 (12 UK carers).
• Alzheimer's Association: Communication and Alzheimer's (approach from the front, one question at a time).
• Sloane and others, person-centered showering and the towel bath, J Am Geriatr Soc 2004 (53% and 60% fewer aggressive incidents in nursing homes).
• Husebo and others, treating pain to reduce behavioural disturbances, BMJ 2011 (352 residents; agitation down 17%).
• NICE: Dementia guideline NG97, recommendations 1.7.1 to 1.7.10 (causes first; when calming drugs are allowed; Lewy body danger). 2018.
• American Psychiatric Association: Patient and caregiver guide: antipsychotics for agitation in dementia (small benefit, the 4-week check, stopping within 4 months).
• Rexulti (brexpiprazole) US prescribing information (the boxed warning and death rates) and the FDA's May 2023 approval.
• Auvelity (dextromethorphan-bupropion) US prescribing information, August 2026, and the Alzheimer's Association's April 2026 approval release.
• Alzheimer's Association: Firearm safety tip sheet (removal over locking; every gun; moving them while the person is out). July 2024.
• Family Caregiver Alliance: Guns and dementia (stop and retry, neutral messengers, a doctor's note, Extreme Risk Protection Orders).
• Safety in Dementia, University of Colorado: Firearms FAQ (who can move guns; free locks from police, sheriffs or VA hospitals).
• VA: Keep It Secure (free cable locks).
• ABA Commission on Law and Aging and partners: Persons living with dementia in the criminal legal system, May 2022 (fitness for trial, prosecutors' discretion, lawyers, care providers refusing admission).
• Battered Women's Justice Project: Domestic violence arrest policies, August 2023.
• State arrest laws read as examples: Alaska 18.65.530, Washington 10.31.100, Florida 741.29, New York CPL 140.10.
• Emergency hold laws read as examples: Florida 394.455 and 394.463, California 5150; Treatment Advocacy Center, Grading the States, 2026, for every state.
• Schulte and others, emergency department boarding for psychiatric hospitalization in older adults, West J Emerg Med 2026 (waits, video psychiatry).
• CMS: EMTALA (the ER screening exam).
• Medicare: Inpatient mental health care (190-day limit, 2026 deductible), emergency department services, outpatient mental health care, and fast appeals.
• Wolverson and others, family experiences of inpatient mental health care for people with dementia, Front Psychiatry 2023 (7 UK carers).
• Federal rules: 42 CFR 482.43 (hospital discharge planning), 42 CFR 483.15 (nursing home discharge), 45 CFR 1324 Subpart D (APS), and HIPAA 164.510, 164.502(g) and 164.512(c), (f) and (j) (164.512 re-read October 3: abuse reports, wound laws, telling the patient).
• National Center on Elder Abuse: Adult Protective Services: what you must know, and the NAPSA state directory.
• Alzheimer's Association: Abuse, the 24/7 Helpline, and First responders.
• California Penal Code 11160 (clinicians reporting assault injuries, and naming who the patient says caused them; re-read October 3).
• Injury-report laws read as examples on October 3: Washington 70.41.440 (gunshot and stab wounds), Oklahoma 22 O.S. 58 and 60.1 (an adult hurt by family decides), Pennsylvania 18 Pa.C.S. 5106 (the spouse or partner exception), and the California Senate's AB 3127 analysis, June 2024 (California reports go in regardless of consent).
• Futures Without Violence: Compendium of state and U.S. territory statutes and policies on domestic violence and health care, 4th edition, 2019 (which injuries states make clinics report; asking about the limits first; telling the patient where a report goes). Read October 3 from an archive copy. Laws change, so check the law it names.
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, HIPAA questions: what clinics may tell police (state wound-report laws; reviewed December 2022) and your medical information and police (a victim's OK is usually needed; reviewed January 2023). Read October 3.
• Seattle City Attorney: Domestic violence court process (the prosecutor decides on charges; the victim's view counts). One city's office. Read October 3.
• National Network to End Domestic Violence: State and U.S. territory coalitions (56 coalitions, with state law and services). Read October 3.
• ACL: Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program and National Family Caregiver Support Program; Eldercare Locator; 211.
• Hua and others, assisted living admission and discharge practices, The Gerontologist 2024 (state rules vary).
• Legal help: Legal Services Corporation and LawHelp.org.
• What families report: caregiver forum threads on ALZConnected, AgingCare and the Alzheimer's Society forum (posters not named); news reports from The Marshall Project (2022), The Baltimore Sun (2023), Police1 (2026), CTV News (2026) and NPR with KFF Health News (2026); and Polzer and others, firearm access and dementia, J Am Geriatr Soc 2022. Stories show what can happen, not how often.
• Elder and vulnerable-adult reporting laws, read October 3: Arizona 46-454 with 46-451, Washington 74.34.035, Oklahoma 43A 10-104 and Kentucky 209.030 (health workers must report abuse of an older or impaired adult to APS, with no exception for the victim saying no; California's WIC 15630 counts anyone 65 or over as an elder).

Techniques & training videos: the teachers behind them

• UCLA Alzheimer's & Dementia Care Program, free caregiver-training video series: agitation & anxiety, repetitive questions, home safety, depression & apathy. Also on the UCLA Health site.
• Teepa Snow / Positive Approach to Care, Hand-under-Hand®: connect and assist, dressing, eating and drinking.