What can be done with families
What can be done with families
Losing communication skills can be one of the most frustrating and difficult problems for people with dementia, their families and caregivers. As the disease progresses, a person with dementia experiences that gradually losing their ability to communicate becomes increasingly difficult to show clearly and understand what others are saying.
Tips for communicating with the person with dementia:
Tips for communicating with the person with dementia:
Although repetitive behaviors can be uncomfortable for the caregiving family, the behavior of walking without stopping by itself does not harm or put the person with dementia or her family at risk.
If the behavior is constant, family caregivers should organize walks outdoors, preferably in the afternoon, in places with little traffic.
Regarding repetitive questions, there is no reason to be angry or try to argue; just answer and understand that this is the maximum elaboration that elderly people with dementia can achieve.
Saying, for example, “I've answered more than twenty times” or yelling at elderly people with dementia will only increase his/her insecurity.
The family should let the elderly person with dementia ask and should try to answer the question clearly, accurately, slowly and articulate, and ask the elderly person to repeat what has been said.
If the repetitive question refers to the time (“what time is it?”), The family who cares should try to relate the answer to some activity (“it's lunch time”, “dinner time”, “showering” etc.). The activity can still serve as a mention of time, while the hourly value has probably lost its concrete meaning.