1. Essential dementia awareness: person centred approaches

2. Welcome Introductions Group Agreement What will be achieved from this session? South West Dementia PartnershipEssential dementia awareness: person centred approaches

3. Main Talking Points Behaviours that challenge us: responding to emotional distress; expressions of anger & excessive walking Person centred approaches Supporting the person with dementia Myth: ‘dementia means you will become incapable of living life with any meaning’ South West Dementia PartnershipEssential dementia awareness: person centred approaches

4. Effect on feelings & emotions Reminder of the information from ‘describing dementia’ presentation For some people having a range of difficulties in memory and thinking can result in a person feeling: ….Frustrated ….Angry ….Upset ….Distressed ….Alone ….Frightened South West Dementia PartnershipEssential dementia awareness: person centred approaches

5. Behaviours that challenge us (responding to emotional distress; expressions of anger & excessive walking) Hitting out in an angry way Walking around all the time Difficulty in self monitoring behaviour with others Not co-operating when being helped with caring tasks Constantly repeating the same thing Shouting out loudly Putting things in places where they cannot be found South West Dementia PartnershipEssential dementia awareness: person centred approaches

6. How to help Look at what else is happening when a person is behaving in a certain way Look for the emotion that the person may be feeling Focus on the person rather than the illness South West Dementia PartnershipEssential dementia awareness: person centred approaches

7. Person with South West Dementia PartnershipEssential dementia awareness: person centred approaches

8. with dementia South West Dementia PartnershipEssential dementia awareness: person centred approaches

9. People as Individuals Each person with dementia will change and react to their difficulties in a different way It is very helpful to know about a person. This will help to think about what the person could be experiencing. SO………………. Finding out all about a person’s life is very important. South West Dementia PartnershipEssential dementia awareness: person centred approaches

10. South West Dementia PartnershipEssential dementia awareness: person centred approaches

11. Supporting the person with dementia Try to…… Involve the person, wherever possible in making decisions about everyday matters Make time to listen to the person Show kindness and be reassuring Respect the person at all times South West Dementia PartnershipEssential dementia awareness: person centred approaches

12. Try not to......... Appear cross with the person Argue with the person Ignore the person Supporting the person with dementia: South West Dementia PartnershipEssential dementia awareness: person centred approaches

13. When a person is distressed Always: Stay calm: Try to show you are relaxed. If speech is hard to understand, think about what the person might be trying to say. Pick up clues from a person’s body language about how they are feeling. Allow the person to express sad / angry emotions. South West Dementia PartnershipEssential dementia awareness: person centred approaches

14. Non-verbal communication Move to the person’s level Gain eye contact where possible Use gestures, objects or signals as well as words e.g. show the person an object that relates to what you are saying South West Dementia PartnershipEssential dementia awareness: person centred approaches

15. Verbal communication Speak in a calm way; notice the tone of your voice. Give the person time to respond. Use short sentences giving a small amount of information. Don’t argue about facts South West Dementia PartnershipEssential dementia awareness: person centred approaches

16. Remember……. You are very important to the person with dementia You make a big difference to how the person copes with dementia South West Dementia PartnershipEssential dementia awareness: person centred approaches

17. Main Talking Points re-visited: Any questions? Behaviours that challenge us (responding to emotional distress; expressions of anger & excessive walking) Person centred approaches Supporting the person with dementia Myth: ‘dementia means you will become incapable of living life with any meaning’ South West Dementia PartnershipEssential dementia awareness: person centred approaches