As cognitive impairment increases, the older adult with dementia requires more supervision and assistance with personal care activities such as bathing, dressing, grooming, toileting, oral hygiene, and eating. Personal care activities are best accomplished in regular routines that involve simple, single- step instructions and visual cues. The environment should be quiet, soothing, uncluttered, and unhurried. To promote independence and preserve functional ability, nurses should encourage older adults with dementia to do the personal care tasks, or parts of tasks, that are within their abilities.