• Does not wash or groom on a regular basis (e.g. shave, brush hair, brush teeth)
• Does not remember to wash or groom without a verbal prompt will not wash or groom without a physical prompt (e.g. putting toothpaste on toothbrush)
• Washes or grooms improperly or incompletely (e.g. food still on face after washing)
• No longer applies make-up for daily wear or social events
• No longer maintains regular appointments with hairdresser, dentist, podiatrist, etc
• Does not change clothing regularly
• Wears clothing that is dirty or soiled
• Has a noticeable body odor
• Looks unclean (e.g. dirty fingernails, greasy hair)
• Looks disheveled or messy (e.g. unshaven, hair messed, no make-up)
• Does not wipe self properly after toileting

When dementia begins to involve the frontal lobes, the result is that motivation becomes impaired. Typically in Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease
A neurological disease that affects memory and behaviour. It is characterized by beta-amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain. There is no known cause but genetics and lifestyle are thought to play a role.,  for example, but also in Lewy body dementia and vascular Vascular
Relating to blood vessels that carry blood throughout the body. dementia, in the late mild to early moderate stages Stages
Course of disease progression defined by levels or periods of severity: early, mild, moderate, moderately severe, severe, the person you care for may need to be reminded to wash and groom themselves. Often they will require assistance with many aspects of grooming such as shaving or brushing their teeth. Sometimes the person you care for may actively resist grooming or refuse assistance. This may be due to the resentment of their declining independence and an attempt to preserve their own self respect. Alternatively, the person you care for may not realize that their physical appearance may be inappropriate or offensive to others. This is because their sense of self and their understanding of their relationships to others are both affected by the disease.

In Frontotemporal dementia Frontotemporal dementia
A type of dementia that mainly affects the frontal lobe causing a problem in executive function tasks., and with some types of vascular dementia, personal hygiene habits deteriorate early in the disease. Families notice that the person they care for first needs to be prompted with, and later fails to perform everyday tasks of bathing, grooming, and appropriate dressing.

The first step in taking a more active role in symptom Symptom
In medicine a symptom is what the patient complains of. For example, a a patient may have symptoms of pain and fatigue. management is understanding how a symptom is affecting everyday life; the next step is communicating this knowledge to the care planning team and family members. SymptomGuide^TM is designed with these goals in mind.