As Richard Ward suggests: “Irrespective of the severity or nature of impairment, a person with dementia will seek out and establish a means of self-expression and thereby make every effort to maintain a relationship with the world they inhabit”.
What are the people in your care doing that is their way of communicating their inner experience to you? What are they saying to you?
Download this mp3 file (link below) to listen to Bernie McCarthy talking with Richard Aedy on Life Matters on Radio National today. They are discussing Bernie’s recently published book Hearing the person with dementia: Person centred approaches to communication for families and caregivers.
Have a look at this video of Sir Gerry Robinson made by the BBC. He is a business man who specialises in turning around businesses from failure to success. He looks at what can be done in dementia care in two homes in the UK.
What he finds makes you want to throw your head back and wail in frustration and sadness.
Yet, he finds some signs of hope. The BBC series is broken up into several 15 minute pieces in these video clips telling the story of his journey.
This video is the first of several I will link to in a series of posts over next few days. This will be well worth your time just to see what is being done and what can be done.
Let me know what you think. What is happening in your place? What grabs your attention?
Our new website just went LIVE today after more than a month off air! It has been a period of quiet work in the back room making it all function and it is in a simple form today so we can build it into the site we want and that will give you the service and products you want from us.
Try the new shop and view the products we have been working on. Let us know what you want if you don’t find it there.
Also let us know if something doesn’t quite work as it should on the site. We have tried to get it into a working state and will add pages and information so everyone can use it easily.
Tell us what you think by leaving a comment. Its interactive now!!
Behaviour is a form of communication. As Richard Ward suggests: “Irrespective of the severity or nature of impairment, a person with dementia will seek out and establish a means of self-expression and thereby make every effort to maintain a relationship with the world they inhabit”.
This relationship attempt may be in the form of repeated questions to you, clinging, or it may be to other people in their environment in the form of physical intimacy. This can be concerning for others but it is a legitimate and reasonable thing for the person to do. However, as with all behaviour it must be safe for others. If this is not the case and is imposed on others people then it must be managed in a skillful way so that everyone is maintained in a positive emotional state.
A useful book that can help to put sexual behaviour in a sensible light in aged care is this one by Barbara Sherman: Sex, Intimacy and Aged Care
What are the people in your care doing that is their way of communicating their inner experience to you? What are they saying to you?
I have just signed a contract to write a book on communication with people living with dementia with Jessica Kingsley Publishers in the UK. The book is almost finished and will likely be out in 2011.
It will have a person-centred focus on valuing the person in your communication and attending to those small and meaningful signs that tell us what the person means when they no longer have words at their disposal. It will also address teh practicalities of communicating in times of difficulty, when stress is high between you and the other person both in residential and in community home care situations.
I will give you notice when it is launched.
