Learning how to communicate with a senior with dementia can go a long way to save you unnecessary frustration, stress, and disharmony so you can focus on more critical aspects of care for your loved one. Communicating with a senior with dementia can be challenging and can often leave you feeling helpless and frustrated. Successful conversations with dementia patients take a lot of trial and error, along with respect, patience, and practice. Remember these do’s and don’ts when communicating with seniors with dementia:
Do’s when communicating with a senior with dementia
- Speak in short, simple sentences that are to the point.
- Try to respond to the feelings rather than the words.
- Smile often and use facial expressions to convey your point without being insincere or condescending.
- Lower yourself to meet your senior at eye level.
- If you feel a confrontation coming, leave the room and allow emotions to cool off.
- Introduce yourself and make your intentions clear. Example: “I am here to take you to your appointment.”
Don’ts when communicating with a senior
- Talk with complex words, significant phrases, or unnecessarily complex sentence structures.
- Utter things like: “Don’t you remember us talking about this?” “I just told you that,” and “How could you forget that, we spoke about it just yesterday?!”
- Wait for a response in silence and without eye contact.
- Take on a dominant stance and physically tower over them during a conversation.
- Argue with them and try to convince them why they are wrong.
- Make judgment-filled statements like: “What do you mean – who’s your daughter? I am your daughter,” if they’re confused about why you’re present.
Additional Tips to Keep in Mind when Communicating with a Senior with Dementia
Speak to your senior in a calm, pleasant, encouraging, and respectful way to set a positive mood for communication. Be affectionate, use facial expressions, and speak with a cheerful voice.
Limit distractions such as TV and radio. Only offer one topic of conversation at a time and avoid bombarding your senior with multiple thoughts or mental threads simultaneously.
Avoid asking questions that rely on short-term memory, such as asking what they had for breakfast. Instead, ask general questions about your senior’s distant past and fond experiences you’ve shared.
Suppose these tips do not give the desired result, and you’re still unsure how to communicate with a senior with dementia. In that case, we recommend contacting our clinical concierge, who can refer you to some of Arizona’s best-rated senior resources specializing in dementia care. Whether you need assistance moving your senior to a memory care facility, advice on how to get Medicare activated to help cover the costs, or even get hold of a mobile pharmacy to save you time rushing to get prescriptions filled – Senior Resource Connectors is here for you.
