[Lying in dementia care].

The indiscriminate use of lying, when communicating with patients with dementia, is questioned in terms of ethics and acceptability. In this article we present the concept of "therapeutic lying", to describe those situations where a "non-truth" is used in the patient's interest and not that of the healthcare professional. The debate is still open, so it is necessary to better clarify risks and benefits of lying in the context of care, both to safeguard patients and to allow healthcare professionals to respect ethical and moral standards.

Lying to patients with dementia: Attitudes versus behaviours in nurses.

Background: Using lies, in dementia care, reveals a common practice far beyond the diagnosis and prognosis, extending to the entire care process.

Objectives: In this article, we report results about the attitude and the behaviour of nurses towards the use of lies to patients with dementia.

Research Design: An epidemiological cross-sectional study was conducted between September 2016 and February 2017 in 12 elderly residential facilities and in the geriatric, psychiatric and neurological wards of six specialised hospitals of Italy's Campania Region.