I started treating my dad with dementia like a customer. It doesn't always work, but it has helped a lot.

The author started smiling at his dad with dementia.

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My 91-year-old West-Indian father, a wiry, 5"6' US Army veteran with Alzheimer 's-related dementia, used to be far more cantankerous. He had even taken to frustrated cursing—something I'd never heard him do in the 55 years I'd been his son.But then I decided to smile at him.And I learned that he was much more likely to finish his breakfast, take his medication, and allow me to aid him in the bathroom when I did.I started treating my Dad like a clientThe inspiration came from reading a 2011 National Institutes of Health study that said "a recognition bias favoring positive faces and other stimuli in older compared to younger adults." The takeaway resonated with my experience working in retail.If anyone deserved the same world-class customer service, it was the man who helped create me. So, I began treating my father like a client — albeit a pro bono one.

The author started treating his dad like a customer.

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