Communication

“How can I talk to someone with dementia?”

This question comes up all the time! For good reason, though: dementia’s notorious for making it hard to understand, process, and respond to what other people are saying.

That’s the major difference between “communicating” and “talking”: either one can happen independently, but we speak in order to communicate (and not the other way around!). Some folks who can no longer wax eloquent in response to your stories still understand you just the same; others don’t.

“Not only do people with dementia have more difficulty expressing thoughts and emotions, they also have more trouble understanding others.”

-via Alzheimer’s Association (UK)

Often the problem is that we’re used to receiving certain signals to let us know when somebody “gets it.” We may expect someone to answer questions and then ask for details. Our faces react; perhaps we lean close to the person who’s speaking.

When you’re talking with someone living with dementia symptoms, how can you get your message across? When communication styles have changed, can you still understand what she’s saying to you? Click a link below to read tips that we’ve discovered over the years…and let us know what you think!

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