The loss of meaningful attachments in dementia and behavioural stage-specific implications

There has been increasing interest in using Bowlby’s attachment theory to understand behavioural changes in dementia and plan new care interventions. This chapter seeks to extend the concept of attachments to persons, to attachments to objects and environments. The focus is to try to understand how, as attachments are diminished, broken or detached from, they can perhaps be replaced by other things that may fulfil the same or a similar need.