Redirection gently shifts a person's attention from a distressing thought or unsafe intention toward a positive, engaging alternative — acknowledging the feeling first, then guiding toward a snack, a walk, music, or a familiar task. The sequence matters: validate, then redirect; skipping the acknowledgment feels dismissive and usually fails. Redirection works with the grain of dementia's attention changes rather than against the person, and it succeeds when the alternative connects to what the person genuinely enjoys. Apply it for repetitive distress, exit-seeking, and rising frustration — always as an invitation, never as manipulation or force.
Redirection shifts a person's attention away from a distressing focus toward something positive, but it works best when it follows validation: first acknowledging what the person said and the feeling…