Tips for Training Caregivers to Communicate With Dementia Patients

As a speech-language pathologist with a passion for geriatric care, I can’t help but notice how disenfranchisement of seniors seems to increasingly creep into our society. I see many seniors—both healthy and especially those with impairments—becoming more and more invisible in our fast-paced internet-driven world. Practically everyone has their noses buried in an iPhone or other device and face-to-face communication gets lost except for the FaceTime app users! I think SLPs and other professionals in our field learn to respect an individual and how to provide compassionate care for other human beings. These valuable skills may not get taught to everyone. I especially regard the communication rights of individuals who lost their ability to participate as a “voice” in society due to neurogenic communication disorders. Of all the patients with aphasia, Parkinson’s and dementia I treat, perhaps the most challenging aspect involves seeing the decline of the communication partnership between paid caregivers and an individual with language loss or confusion due to Alzheimer’s disease. Although these clients seemingly lose their identity, there’s still a person with a history of hopes, dreams, lives, interests and ambitions. SLPs can improve caregivers’ relationships with dementia patients by devoting patient education hours to training the caregivers. The MESSAGE and RECAPS program developed by Liddle and colleagues summarizes some of the best tips in this domain: ...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - Category: Speech Therapy Authors: Tags: Speech-Language Pathology Alzheimer's Cognitive Rehabilitation dementia Source Type: blogs