Four Tips for Communicating with Someone with Dementia
Dementia, also known as Alzheimer's disease, can be difficult for family member and loved ones to communicate and watch. When you have a loved one that is suffering from the effects of dementia, they will have trouble remembering details of their life, including memories with their family, names of friends, and events or timelines of events. This can cause panic or even sadness in family members. Anytime you have a loved one battling Alzheimer's disease, you will want to get them the proper care. At Empire Home Health Care in Philadelphia, PA, we are trained to communicate and understand our patients that are battling dementia. There are a few tips that we offer family members to communicate with loved ones with dementia.
Set a Positive Mood
Even if they are not lucid at the time you are visiting them, you will still want to maintain a positive mood during your interaction. If you feel like crying or you are having a tough time, don't show it. Instead, channel your focus on reminding them of certain details of their life or your life. If this is too frustrating, talk to them about unimportant things, like the weather and the decorations.
Get Their Attention
It can even be difficult to begin the conversation. First, you will want to make sure that you have the attention of your family member when you want to talk. Greet them gently and remind them who you are. Once they are looking at you and acknowledging your presence, you can begin the conversation.
Ask Simple Questions
It can be difficult for your loved ones to remember details themselves, and they may even become frustrated from this. To avoid this, ask simple questions that are easy to answer. Ask them questions that offer choices, which will allow them to simply pick one of the answers. You may also want to provide visual prompts and hand gestures to help with cognition.
Break Things Down for Them
If you are engaging in an activity with your loved ones, take the time to break the activity into steps. This will make it much easier for them to follow along with you. If you overwhelm them with too much, they will likely forget every single detail. Instead, take lots of breaks to ensure they are still following along.
These are a few tips that can help you communicate with your family member that is battling dementia. This disease can make it confusing, difficult, or even sad to have conversations about memories that they can no longer access. Trusting the right professionals in home health care in Philadelphia, PA is a great way to ensure that they are receiving the proper medical care to keep them healthy during the course of the illness. Contact us to hear about how we can help you with your loved ones today.