Care, done well
Talking with someone who has dementia
Correcting, quizzing and rushing all make things worse. Here is what our memory-care caregivers do instead.
The Care Team · 7th Grace Oak Homecare · · 5 min readPending review
Language changes with dementia, but the need to be understood does not. The techniques below are simple, and they are the core of our memory-care training.
- Come to eye level, say your name, and wait
- One idea per sentence; one question at a time
- Do not correct a wrong memory — join the feeling behind it
- Offer two choices, not open questions
- If a topic upsets, change the room, not the person
Behaviour is communication
Pacing, refusing food or repeating a question usually means something specific: pain, fear, boredom, a full bladder. We look for the message before responding to the behaviour.
