[Verse 1] A woman walks the hallways of a long-term care ward, Her memory a manuscript with pages torn and scarred, Now watch the clinician — trained eyes cataloguing signs, The plaques of Alzheimer's leave their slow, insidious lines, Gradual amnesia, hippocampus fades away, Episodic memory crumbling, word retrieval starts to fray, But Lewy body flickers — hallucinations, rigid gait, REM sleep acting out its dreams, cognition fluctuates, And frontotemporal changes — personality unhinged, Executive disinhibition, language circuits singed, Three distinct phenotypes, three different paths of loss, Differential diagnosis is the clinician's cross [Chorus] A-L-Z for gradual memory theft, L-B-D for the tremor and the hallucinations kept, F-T-D for the frontal lobe's strange behavioral shift, Hold the three presentations — let the diagnoses lift, A-B-C — Antecedent, Behavior, Consequence, Person-centered, non-pharmacological, and hence — We assess before we intervene, we witness and we name, Geropsychology, where every case is never quite the same [Verse 2] A man in room fourteen calls out for Margaret each hour, She passed so many decades back — still holds astonishing power, The novice wants to correct him, redirect or close the door, But person-centered wisdom asks: what is the longing for? Validate the emotion — Margaret meant safety, meant home, Acknowledge without disputing that he need not grieve alone, Use his name with cadence, meet him fully in his now, Reminiscence as an anchor — let the past guide you somehow, Offer sensory comfort, photograph or gentle touch, Consistent caregivers, predictable routines do much, Communication calibrated — short, direct, and warm, One idea per sentence, calm delivery the norm [Chorus] A-L-Z for gradual memory theft, L-B-D for the tremor and the hallucinations kept, F-T-D for the frontal lobe's strange behavioral shift, Hold the three presentations — let the diagnoses lift, A-B-C — Antecedent, Behavior, Consequence, Person-centered, non-pharmacological, and hence — We assess before we intervene, we witness and we name, Geropsychology, where every case is never quite the same [Verse 3] The agitation episode begins at half past three, The antecedent: shift-change chaos, noise, unfamiliarity, The behavior: striking out, the vocalizing, pacing fast, The consequence: staff retreat — and so the pattern holds steadfast, ABC analysis — map the trigger and the loop, Before you reach for medication, tighten up that sleuth, Reduce environmental noise, adjust the lighting low, Engage with meaningful activity, let familiar music flow, Therapeutic touch assessed, aromatherapy tried, Caregiver coaching implemented alongside, Document the function, measure the frequency, Non-pharmacological first — that is our clinical creed
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