Department of Health

Communication strategies

Memory and intellect deteriorate as dementia progresses, yet people with dementia continue to interact. How staff respond can have profound effects on a person’s wellbeing.

Barriers

Barriers to communication may relate to individual issues or to social and physical environments. Personal barriers may include:

  • health status
  • physical ability
  • cognitive and sensory ability
  • emotional wellbeing
  • personality and mood
  • culture and knowledge of English.
  • A facility’s institutional values and philosophy affect the social environment through policies on:
  • staff recruitment and training
  • staff-to-staff communication
  • routines
  • rosters
  • staff–resident ratios
  • staff encouragement and support.

In the physical environment, communication is affected by:

  • building design and layout
  • size of rooms
  • size and placement of furniture
  • width and length of corridors
  • extent of private space
  • lighting
  • ambient noise.

Principles

Change: As dementia progresses adjust how you communicate to suit a person’s changing needs.

Context: Guide a person through any task, activity or request by explaining or describing what is happening or about to happen.

No expectations: Make it clear verbally and non-verbally that a person may respond or not as they wish; that nothing is required of them.

Reassurance: Communicate verbally and non-verbally to reassure a person they are accepted.

Consistency: Verbal responses and non-verbal communication should not contradict each other.

Strategies

  • Talk to a person, rather than about them to others.
  • Address a person by their preferred name, not ‘dear’ or ‘love’.
  • Tell a person what you are doing or going to do.
  • Focus your full attention on the person and make eye contact.
  • Use words and sounds of encouragement.
  • Do not use a demeaning or condescending tone of voice or hostile gestures or stance.
  • Do not invade a person’s personal space.
  • Speak at a slower pace.
  • Pause between one topic and the next.
  • Use prompts such as pictures, photographs and simple signs.
  • Accept a person’s feelings.
  • Use non-threatening physical contact.
  • Do not make abrupt changes to routines.
  • Get to know a person’s life story so you have a store of background information for questions and conversations.
  • Use individualised memory books to improve and keep communication skills.
  • Use written and pictorial signs in significant places around the facility.
  • Place memory charts containing photographs, brief statements about the person and conversation topics on bedroom walls and other appropriate places to aid communication.
  • Use other techniques and therapies that help communication like aromatherapy, attention focusing, bright light therapy, massage, music therapy, pet therapy, reminiscence sessions and walking.

Reviewed 18 February 2016

Health.vic

Changes you can make

Strategies, checklists and tools

On this site

Was this page helpful?