Areas for guidance
Resources
TIPS FOR COMMUNICATION
These are based on themes arising from the literature review and views of the Expert Advisory Group.
1. Adopt a person centred approach to communication
Staff should adopt a person centred approach which values people as individuals with unique histories, values, likes, beliefs and strengths. A total communication approach is one such approach which values all forms of communication and respects individuals’ right to choose the mode or modes in which they communicate. Staff should: • Find out about how best to support a person to understand information and how to facilitate interactions with them. Understand that the person may interact best at certain times of day. This will have a big impact on the success of your interactions. • The use of communication aids that support the person could include objects, visual supports, communication passports, life story books, story boards, maps, photos, picture boards (16,50), pen and paper, Talking Mats (50) and sign such as Irish Sign Language or Lámh (51) which is commonly used by people with intellectual disabilities. • Be creative! Communicating and interacting with people with dementia requires staff to be creative and open in their approach. • People with advanced dementia can communicate their views and preferences in a way that is subtle and often not obvious to people who do not know them well. This means that you need to document communication behaviours that you have noticed and build up a picture about the person’s preferences and wishes around their care including their end-of-life care. This demands a collaborative approach using key ‘nuggets’ of information from staff observations, family and friends. Life story work could form the basis for this work. This is explained in point two below. 2. Connect with the person In section 3, emphasis was placed on the need to promote personhood throughout the person’s journey with dementia. Good quality interactions have a big impact on how a person with dementia feels; there is a strong link between positive, friendly communication and improved mood in people with dementia (52). • Staff should prioritise connecting with a person and try not to get overly focused on exchanging information and facts. Enjoy the contact and the connection and promote success in the interaction. • Life story work can be a very effective way of developing meaningful relationships with the person with dementia (53). This involves taking time to get to know a person and their life history in order to understand and connect with them on a personal level. By knowing who the person is and what is important to them, you can build a meaningful relationship and foster successful interactions. • It can often be useful to focus on the feelings or the intent behind the words instead of facts in order to foster successful interactions.
Facilitating discussions on future and end-of-life care with a person with dementia
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