Individuals with dementia can have difficulty with recent memories and with communicating, making it harder to maintain relationships with others on their own. Often, their friends, neighbors, and extended family members do not know how to handle this, so stop visiting or calling. Offer these tips to decrease the fear and make the visit successful.
Choose a quiet calm location
Introduce yourself, as needed
Keep focus on the person, using eye contact and patience
Avoid correcting; instead offer reassurance and praise
Avoid open-ended questions; instead use yes/no questions or questions where 2 choices are given
Monitor body language and facial expressions of the person
Enter their world. Talk about what they are thinking about at the time.
Reminiscence is a wonderful tool. Talk about past interests or significant life events.
Use adapted Alzheimer activities to form a connection and have fun together.
Don't know what to do when visiting with the person with dementia?
This is the perfect 'kit' to have a variety of activities that work for different stages of dementia.
Includes your choice of one 26 piece puzzle, various level re-usable word searches, and lacing card in a handy binder.
