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The other day I was having a consult at the psychogeriatric ward of a local hospital. While we were discussing a CT scan of my father's brain, the psychiatrist mentioned that his ward was really aimed at reshaping disruptive behaviour -- like painting the bathroom with excrement -- of patients with dementia (pdf).
Thinking the conversation over, this sounds a bit like social engineering -- which makes me wonder: have other Soylentils been in a position where they've taken care of an elderly parent, and what psychological principles did you apply to moderate/shape behaviour?
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(Score: 3, Insightful) by Magic Oddball on Sunday August 21 2016, @06:38AM
Regarding number 3: from too much first-hand experience, treating a senior parent like a toddler only works if it's in the "would you like X or Y" (e.g. giving limited choices so they feel at least minor control) psychological-tricks approach — if it's actually degrading, it will almost invariably make things worse.
A doctor is already an authority figure (offspring almost never are) — a patient's far more likely to meekly obey a doctor than they will if treated similarly by their adult offspring, especially if the senior's mental state doesn't let them forcibly remind themselves to put up with it out of gratitude.
Likewise, most elder-care facilities (aside from the absolute best) fill most of their non-medical (and even some medical) positions with whoever's desperate enough to do the work for minimum wage, which typically means people that can't get or keep another job. That's why places like that are well-known for high incidents of physical & emotional abuse. IOW, what you saw as a teen most likely wasn't a good example to follow.