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Assessments of institutionalized dementia patients' competencies to participate in intimate relationships
P A Lichtenberg1, D M Strzepek
1Western State Hospital, Staunton, VA 24401.
The Gerontologist
|February 1, 1990
Abstract:
Although sexual interests in institutionalized elderly patients have long been recognized (Comfort, 1974; Wasow & Loeb, 1974), guidelines to help determine patients' competencies to participate in intimate relationships are not delineated in the literature. This paper describes the assessment technique used by an interdisciplinary staff on a coed Alzheimer's disease unit. Two case studies are presented to highlight how the assessment led to the treatment decisions.