The Aging Patient with Dementia: Using an Interdisciplinary Team Approach: Summary 44
Communication Strategies for Dementia Patients Key Approaches
• Use shorter sentences • Ask yes/no questions • Avoid cluttered, noisy environments • Be aware of body language • Allow processing time • Provide appropriate cues
• Express encouragement, not scolding Non-verbal Communication Recognition The non-verbal patient may communicate by: • Gestures • Facial expressions • Body language • Eye contact • Touch The 5 R’s of Helping Patients with Difficult Behavior
1. Restrict : If the patient’s behavior is dangerous, calmly try to get them to stop the behavior. Remove any items around the patient that can be harmful and protect others. 2. Reassess : Try to think about what causes the behavior - pain, hunger, anger, a noisy environment, etc. 3. Reconsider : Put yourself in the patient’s shoes and try to image what it is like to be unable to communicate what you want or unable to remember the people around you. 4. Re-channel : Try to redirect the patient to a safer activity. Find something meaningful to the patient to manipulate. 5. Reassure : Be a calm presence to the patien t. Bonus! 6. Review: After the situation is resolved, think about how you managed the problem and how you may have managed it differently. Think about ways to avoid similar situations in the future. Working Together as a Therapy Team
two therapists working on and documenting the same goal or a time for socialization. Co- treatment should not be used for convenience or a way to bide your time because therapy seems to take too long. Co-treatment can happen during most ADLs and IADLs, such as dining, bathing, dressing, grooming, cooking, ambulation, standing activities, etc.
Co-treatment is two therapists working together to treat a patient. These therapists will have separate and distinct goals for the activity and specific discipline. Documentation should show the skill set of each therapist. Co- treatment is a means of facilitating meaningful therapy between disciplines and allows for extra assistance for patients who require more than one therapist to complete a task. It is NOT
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