Key Dementia Communication Tip: #dementia

[lizlafferty]

WOW! NOW I understand why my HWD picks up so acutely and quickly on voice tone and facial cues! I need to up my game to show up as he needs me to.

[danarucker]

That makes a lot of sense 🤔 I have learn that with my love one. Thank you for sharing. 😊

[gregzeng]

Thank you for noticing that our "caring" staff members are often tense and very panicked.
Had a car accident 38 years ago, when my employment (Australia) was as an Accreditation Surveyor in the health industries. With my severe Traumatic Brain Injury, my wife etc. needs to often use the services of professional ambulance staff.

The junior worker often needs to put a cannula into the vein in my arm. So difficult, so then the senior officer does this. They panic and are emotionally tense. Usually, in all my medical emergencies, my body has "Locked In Syndrome" (LIS).

The emergency treatment staff everywhere do not know how to know about Locked In Syndrome. It deeply bothers "demented" people like myself. Stop panicking, please. Calamities are emergencies are normal for frail geriatrics like myself.

If we only have LIS, there would be ways to communicate, two-way communicate, with "demented" creatures like myself. Give us simple binary choices. Yes, or No, only. We can grunt, or force some muscle movement in response.

If we are emotionally or physically berserk, wait until these raw and unstoppable animal reactions stop. After this raw animal stuff finishes (no more uncontrollable spasms, etc.), we might be able to then become human enough for you to be meaningful to our flailing bodies.

If we are still raw animals, without too much obvious humanity, our organism will respond to certain "authorities". In my personal case, a calm, firm and steady physical touch. Along with a human voice, body posture and communication timing, showing that there is enough time and resources to get things back to becoming calm and secure.

The worse thing to do is increase the emotional content. Stop extreme speeds. Calm everything down. Avoid arguments, avoid debate, avoid blaming. Focus on being calm and relaxed.

[WooWooMama]

I appreciate you🙏 My first year as my parents caregiver. Thank you for your videos🙂

[MPMChitChat]

I find this type of communication skill is effective in all areas of one's life - even when dealing with problematic people it can disarm them .

[paulawhalen]

“To love someone long-term is to attend a thousand funerals of the people they used to be, ” the quote by psychology writer Heidi Priebe reads. “The people they’re too exhausted to be any longer. The people they don’t recognise inside themselves anymore. The people they grew out of, the people they never ended up growing into. We so badly want the people we love to get their spark back when it burns out; to become speedily found when they are lost.”

“But it is not our job to hold anyone accountable to the people they used to be, ” the quote continues. “It is our job to travel with them between each version and to honour what emerges along the way. Sometimes it will be an even more luminescent flame. Sometimes it will be a flicker that disappears and temporarily floods the room with a perfect and necessary darkness.”

[susancraven-moore]

I’m telling you this is the hardest part. My face says exactly how I feel.

[hilladelphia]

Cowboy calm, settled, relaxed and professional in the saddle. Even babies are calmer when the mom is chilled out so for sure this is tops advise. ❤

[yvonnekneeshaw]

I’m also finding that since I’m still required to wear a mask when visiting mom affects communication

[barbarafortenberry]

What do you do if your husband is also deaf with Semantic dementia.
I'm totally lost.

[sharonwhitbread]

I’ve got frontal lobe dementia i can’t talk properly xx

[lisalo]

Not dementia but covid psychosis in my family.

[terryblagg]

Good to know! Is there a video demonstrating the body language?

[milenaseymour]

Very interesting that the body language and tone is more important…It’s like they are just connected to God and feeling versus being human .

[scottthomas]

Hey Jill, does this help talking to Joe?