Before Ralph McOmber moved into Middlechurch Home of Winnipeg Inc., he was a carpenter. Today, he lives with dementia.

McOmber recently moved into the West St. Paul care home to receive proper treatment.

Staff a Middlechurch Home says his timing couldn't be better. The home is now using an innovative approach to treat patients with dementia and Alzheimer's disease, which uses memories over medicine.

Staff are using McOmber's experience from the past to help him now.

"They get more agitated when they don't have a purpose, so him having done construction and working with his hands, it was decided things like painting, sanding, that kind of stuff would work for him," says Marleen Jonker,  charge nurse at Middlechurch Home.

A former teacher may be given school work to mark and a former mechanic will be given a modified tool box.

"We tended to use drugs first and strategies last when you can implement a program to manage behaviour without using a medication," says Betty Bender, who is director of nursing administration. "That's the huge benefit of this program."

Bender says a year ago, more than 40 percent in the Middlechurch Home were on these drugs when in reality many didn't need to be.

Since the drugs can cause harmful side effects, health care professionals started asking if there was a better way to treat these patients.

"If each staff member can provide two to five minutes of attention to residents when they're actually quite happy and doing well rather than coming in after when after there's challenging behaviours; that show themselves then it's a way to actually improve and help manage resident care," says Joe Puchniak of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.

For some the need for anti-psychotic medications has been reduced by 25 percent.

Carol Brisley says she's noticed a difference in her aunt who has dementia.

"She's not sleeping near as much as she used to and she's able to have some conversation even though it's limited" says Brisley.

Staff says they are still dealing with the same amount of difficult behaviours, but officials say that's okay because quality of life will be improved with less medication.

More than one million dollars is spent on the drugs every year in our region. The goal is to save that money and put it back into quality care.

WRHA officials behind the project are working on a business plan in hopes of developing similar care models to all 39 nursing homes in Winnipeg.

-- with a report from CTV's Ina Sidhu