Dementia may never improve but there are new ways to tackle it

Drexel University has developed something called the Tailored Activity Program (TAP), somewhat similar to cognitive rehab, which also brings occupational therapists into people's homes

He was a retired factory worker, living with his wife outside a small town in Wales, in the United Kingdom. Once outgoing and sociable, engaged in local activities including a community choir, he'd been jolted by a diagnosis of early dementia.

A few months later, at 70, he wouldn't leave the house alone, fearful that if he needed help, he couldn't manage to use a cellphone to call his wife. He avoided household chores he'd previously undertaken, such as doing laundry. When his frustrated wife tried to show him how to use the washer, he couldn't remember her instructions.

"He'd lost a