A question that comes around again and again. The answer is: ‘yes and no’ or ‘it depends’ but telling fibs should not be ruled out as a way of helping This is discussed in my book on pages 78-79 and 341-345. Rigid, dogmatic, blanket and insensitive application of either ‘Reality Orientation’ or ‘Therapeutic Fibbing’ can be damaging to a person with dementia. This UK Alzheimer’s Society blog (see link) discusses this in practical, wise and compassionate terms. For instance: ‘recognising that ‘truth’ and ‘lies’ are not as simple as black and white. A spectrum runs from ‘Whole-truth telling’ through ‘Looking for alternative meaning’, to ‘Distracting’, ‘Going along with’ and finally ‘Lying’.’
https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/…/lying-to-somebody-with…