There are 850,000 people living with dementia in the UK, 70% of those live in care homes.
As we all know, people living with dementia need frequent opportunities to communicate in meaningful
ways. It’s up to us to make the time to listen, to try and understand,
and to encourage their efforts even when its difficult.
Below are some of your top messages on enhancing communications with residents living with dementia:
- Empathise; Recognising and showing heart-felt concern for a resident will help them to feel safer and better understood.
- Reflect; After being with a resident living with dementia, always
ask yourself, how did that interaction go? Did it feel good? How did
the resident feel or look after you’d spoken? If you’re unsure,
chat with your colleagues about what interactions could look like
at their best.
- Be Positive; Encouraging
residents living with dementia to chat can really help with their
confidence in communicating with us. Using positive reactions such as,
‘yes I see’, or ‘that sounds interesting, tell me more’ will help with
this.
Do you have any great top tips for communicating well with people living with dementia? If you do, please get in touch with mhl@city.ac.uk or visit the website for more useful resources www.myhomelife.org.uk
