Introduction
Communicating with someone with dementia can be a challenging and often frustrating experience for all parties involved. The burden of care is often placed on family members and close friends who have not received any training on strategies and techniques to support and guide their communication with their loved ones as the disease progresses. The American Speech-Language and Hearing Association recognizes this challenge and proposes in their guidelines for the management of Alzheimer’s disease that a crucial focus be placed on caregiver education.
According to Schoenmakers, Buntinx, and DeLepeleire (2010), supporting the dementia family caregiver through training and enhancing functional communication skills is expected to lessen the psychological distress that often accompanies being a caregiver. They continue on to state that adequate communication skills are a large contributor to a positive caregiving climate in the home. Despite this assertion, there continues to be a lack of formal training resources for home-based dementia family caregivers.
To date, a number of clinical research studies have been published examining various strategies for communicating with patients with dementia and a number of training programs have been proposed; however, these resources are not easily available to the general public. I have reviewed and compiled the strategies and programs in these research articles and used this as my knowledge-base in creating this online resource. These resources have been listed below.
This website is meant to function as a self-paced learning module so it has been designed in such a way that you may navigate the pages in sequential order using the "Next" and "Back" buttons, or you can feel free to jump around to the different pages by using the page navigation menu at the top of the page. In addition to communication strategies, other resources for caregivers such as support groups and online information networks can be found on the Additional Resources page.
According to Schoenmakers, Buntinx, and DeLepeleire (2010), supporting the dementia family caregiver through training and enhancing functional communication skills is expected to lessen the psychological distress that often accompanies being a caregiver. They continue on to state that adequate communication skills are a large contributor to a positive caregiving climate in the home. Despite this assertion, there continues to be a lack of formal training resources for home-based dementia family caregivers.
To date, a number of clinical research studies have been published examining various strategies for communicating with patients with dementia and a number of training programs have been proposed; however, these resources are not easily available to the general public. I have reviewed and compiled the strategies and programs in these research articles and used this as my knowledge-base in creating this online resource. These resources have been listed below.
This website is meant to function as a self-paced learning module so it has been designed in such a way that you may navigate the pages in sequential order using the "Next" and "Back" buttons, or you can feel free to jump around to the different pages by using the page navigation menu at the top of the page. In addition to communication strategies, other resources for caregivers such as support groups and online information networks can be found on the Additional Resources page.
References
Bourgeois, M. S. (1990). Enhancing conversation skills in patients with Alzheimer's disease using a prosthetic memory aid. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 23(1), 29-42. doi:10.1901/jaba.1990.23-29
Haberstroh, J., Neumeyer, K., Krause, K., Franzmann, J., & Pantel, J. (2011). TANDEM: Communication training for informal caregivers of people with dementia. Aging & Mental Health, 15(3), 405-413. doi:10.1080/13607863.2010.536135
Ripich, D., Wykle, M., & Niles, S. (1995). The FOCUSED program: A communication skills training program helps nursing assistants to give better care to patients with Alzheimer's disease. Geriatric Nursing, 16(1), 15-19. doi:10.1016/S0197-4572(05)80073-4
Schoenmakers, B., Buntinx, F., & DeLepeleire, J. (2010). Supporting the dementia family caregiver: the effect of home care intervention on general well-being. Aging & Mental Health, 14(1), 44-56. doi:10.1080/13607860902845533
Small, J. A., Gutman, G., Makela, S., & Hillhouse, B. (2003). Effectiveness of communication strategies used by caregivers of persons with Alzheimer's disease during activities of daily living. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 46(2), 353-367. doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2003/028)
Zientz, J., Rackley, A., Chapman, S. B., Hopper, T., Mahendra, N., Kim, E., & Cleary, S. (2007). Evidence-based practice recommendations for dementia: Educating caregivers on Alzheimer's disease and training communication strategies. Journal of Medical Speech-Language Pathology, 15(1), liii-lxiv. Retrieved from http://www.ancds.org/pdf/articles/Educating_caregivers.pdf
Haberstroh, J., Neumeyer, K., Krause, K., Franzmann, J., & Pantel, J. (2011). TANDEM: Communication training for informal caregivers of people with dementia. Aging & Mental Health, 15(3), 405-413. doi:10.1080/13607863.2010.536135
Ripich, D., Wykle, M., & Niles, S. (1995). The FOCUSED program: A communication skills training program helps nursing assistants to give better care to patients with Alzheimer's disease. Geriatric Nursing, 16(1), 15-19. doi:10.1016/S0197-4572(05)80073-4
Schoenmakers, B., Buntinx, F., & DeLepeleire, J. (2010). Supporting the dementia family caregiver: the effect of home care intervention on general well-being. Aging & Mental Health, 14(1), 44-56. doi:10.1080/13607860902845533
Small, J. A., Gutman, G., Makela, S., & Hillhouse, B. (2003). Effectiveness of communication strategies used by caregivers of persons with Alzheimer's disease during activities of daily living. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 46(2), 353-367. doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2003/028)
Zientz, J., Rackley, A., Chapman, S. B., Hopper, T., Mahendra, N., Kim, E., & Cleary, S. (2007). Evidence-based practice recommendations for dementia: Educating caregivers on Alzheimer's disease and training communication strategies. Journal of Medical Speech-Language Pathology, 15(1), liii-lxiv. Retrieved from http://www.ancds.org/pdf/articles/Educating_caregivers.pdf
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