What is redirection?

The goal of redirection is to ease distress by gently shifting the person's attention away from something upsetting and toward another topic, activity or place, without arguing. A 2025 study in The Gerontologist describes redirection as distraction and attempts to shift a person's focus elsewhere. The National Institute on Aging suggests redirecting attention to a new object or activity, such as music, a book or a walk.

Stay calm, avoid arguing, reassure the person that you are there to help, and then turn their attention to a new object or activity, such as listening to music, reading a book or going for a walk. The National Institute on Aging also suggests reducing noise and clutter, keeping well-loved objects such as photos around the home, and keeping a steady daily routine, which can make everyday life less stressful.

Useful techniques include offering a pleasant activity, turning a repeated action into a task, and responding to the feeling rather than the behavior. The Alzheimer's Association gives the example of handing over a cloth and asking for help with dusting when a person keeps rubbing a table. It also suggests giving a bored person something structured to do, and staying calm instead of arguing or using logic.

Respond to the feeling behind the request with calm reassurance rather than insisting they are already home. The Alzheimer's Association lists trying or wanting to 'go home' even when at home as a common sign of wandering risk, and advises reassuring the person if they feel lost, abandoned or disoriented. Planning activities for the time of day they get restless, and meeting needs such as toileting and thirst, may also help.

Therapeutic fibbing means telling a person with dementia a comforting untruth, or going along with their version of events, instead of correcting them. A 2025 study in The Gerontologist groups such practices into going along, not telling, white lies and tricks, and notes that care workers generally see them as acceptable when the person cannot understand the truth and the aim is to prevent harm or distress.