Skip to main content

Communicate Better With Loved Ones With Dementia Using These Easy Methods

Connecting with a senior loved one trying to cope with all the struggles of Alzheimer’s or dementia, particularly in the middle and later stages, may be frustrating – both for you and for your loved one. Brain changes affect the ability to hear, process, and respond effectively to conversations, and it’s up to us to employ new ways of communicating in order to connect with an individual more successfully.

However, doing so is much easier than it may seem. We already communicate nonverbally in a variety of ways, such as:

  • Physical contact
  • Posture and motion
  • Eye contact
  • Facial expressions
  • Gestures
  • Personal space

Consider these methods to incorporate more nonverbal communication into your interactions with a senior loved one:

  1. Offer assurance through a caring touch. If a senior loved one is comfortable with touch, hold and pat the senior’s hand, rub his/her back, put an arm around your loved one’s shoulders, and provide affectionate hugs.
  2. Look the senior in the eye. Eye contact conveys interest in the person, even if no words are spoken.
  3. Respect personal boundaries. Refrain from overwhelming the individual by permitting ample personal space, making certain you’re at the same level as the individual, never towering over him or her. Your face should be at eye level with the older adult.
  4. Maintain a peaceful, patient, and confident attitude. Suppress any anger, annoyance or impatience, and concentrate on maintaining a calm and pleasant expression on your face when with a loved one with dementia. If this is impossible based on challenging behaviors, step away briefly and practice deep breathing or any other relaxation strategies; for example:
  • Square breathing: Use a finger to draw the shape of a square in front of you. When tracing the first side, breathe in deeply for a count of three; for the next side, hold your breath for one second; for the third side, breathe out for a count of three; and for the fourth side, hold your breath for one second. Repeat as necessary.
  • Calming phrase repetition: A few examples to get you started: “This will pass, and everything is ok. I am able to manage this. I am safe and well.”
  • Distracted thinking: Practice concentrated refocusing. Try saying the alphabet backwards, stating as many state capitals as you possibly can, or singing the words to a popular song.

Discover more creative strategies to successful dementia care by getting in touch with Heaven at Home Senior Care. Our caregivers are specially trained in the most current Alzheimer’s and dementia care techniques, and we are always available to help a loved one with dementia to remain safe and calm, and to enjoy life to his/her greatest possible potential. Reach out to us at (866) 381-0500 any time for assistance or to learn more about University Park home care options.

The post Communicate Better With Loved Ones With Dementia Using These Easy Methods appeared first on Heaven at Home Care.



from Heaven at Home Care https://ift.tt/32GeLML
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sleep in the Elderly: What is Normal?

If you are a caregiver for a senior, or even just have elderly people in your life, you may wonder about their sleeping habits. It sometimes seems that the elderly don’t need as much sleep as the average person. You may feel like the elderly in your life are sleeping a lot, or sleeping too much during the day. Unfortunately when it comes to sleep in the elderly, what is normal may not necessarily be what is healthy. Excessive sleep or daytime sleeping in the elderly are all related to sleep disorders and can be helped. How Many Hours of Sleep Does an Elderly Person Need? A pervading myth related to sleep claims that elderly adults need less sleep than the average adult. It’s not quite clear how this myth began. Perhaps because elderly adults tend to nap in the afternoons and sleep less during the night. Perhaps because the elderly tend to wake up earlier in the morning, it appears they do not need to sleep as much. Whatever the reason, it remains a myth. From the mid-’20s onward, do...
1 comment
Read more

Dads and Pops: Your Good Health Matters to Us 

Did you know  June is  Men’s Health Month  and Father’s Day anchors Men’s Health Week ?   Celebrate dad on Father’s Day and thank him for all he  has  done, but  also  make sure to seize an opportunity sometime this month to have a conversation with him about his health. This awareness campaign has the critical purpose of informing men   that avoiding preventive healthcare puts them at real and serious risk of  contracting a disease or  acquiring  a chronic condition.   Studies consistently  show the numbers go against men , particularly as they advance into their senior years.   Even with dramatic advances in diagnosis and treatment over the past 100 years, men’s life expectancy still lags significantly behind women. According to  Harvard Health ,  the gap is widening. In 1900, the life expectancy for women was 48.3 years vs. 46.3 for men. In 2017, it was 81.1 years for women vs. 76.1 for men. Harvard...
Post a Comment
Read more

Film Screening at Samvedna Senior Care

On 30th September, 2019, Samvedna Senior Care Foundation hosted the 2nd film festival of generations in association with Heidelberg University, Germany. The film Sputnik Moment – 30 years and beyond was screened at our senior citizen centre in Gurgaon for our members and staff. The film highlighted how senior citizens in Germany and the US were taking up second careers to fill their time, engage meaningfully and also get support through additional income. Post the screening Dr. Martin Gieselmann, Executive Secretary, SAI, Heidelberg University and Dr. Constanze, Coordinator DAAD Project, Heidelberg University along with our team engaged with the audience in an interesting discussion on the Indian scenario. Members shared that in India it is not easy for senior citizens to pick up jobs after retirement, however it was interesting to see that many in the audience did have jobs post retirement. They also spoke about stereotypes and social attitudes towards ageing and shared their per...
Post a Comment
Read more