|
Alzheimer's
Disease is often referred to as a disease of communication.
Communication is the essence of all our relationships,
it is fundamental to our existence. When the ability
to communicate is lost or impaired, our entire social
network is affected. In essence, if we can't communicate,
we lose our place in society.
Communication
involves both understanding language and producing
language. A person with dementia may have difficulties
in either or both of these areas. Language is also
intimately entwined with memory. It is the destruction
of memory in the disease process that compounds the
communication difficulties experienced by a person
with Alzheimer's.
Most
of our communication of which we are consciously aware
occurs through speech. One of the major features of
Alzheimer's disease and some other forms of dementia,
is the interference with speech. This can be seen
in a number of different ways. The person with dementia
may:
|
*
|
not
be able to concentrate on a topic because they
'lose' words.
|
|
*
|
not
be able to find the correct name of a person,
even the name of their spouse or children might
not be remembered.
|
|
*
|
have
difficulty in remembering the names of everyday
items.
|
|
*
|
confuse
words eg. ask for coffee when they really want
tea.
|
|
*
|
eventually
not be able to form words at all.
|
|
*
|
produce
words in a jumbled way so that speech makes
no sense.
|
|
*
|
lose the ability to understand words.
|
|
*
|
lose reading and writing skills.
|
|
*
|
repeatedly
ask the same question or tell the same story.
|
Any
of these events can produce frustration and confusion
both in the listener and the person with dementia
who knows they want to say something, but doesn't
know how to get the message across.
There
are many techniques that can be learnt and used to
assist in the communication process. These techniques
do not stop the disease, but they may make it easier
to communicate and relate with the person with dementia
even through late stages of the disease. As the disease
progresses, non-verbal forms of communication become
far more important than speech alone. Keep in mind
the following:
|
*
|
It
is absolutely vital to continue to communicate
in whatever way possible for as long as possible.
|
|
*
|
Being
flexible in your approach is crucial. Most of
us take the ability to communicate for granted.
When that ability becomes impaired, we need
to be prepared to try other ways to communicate
and relate.
|
|
*
|
It
takes TIME to communicate effectively, and even
more so with a person with dementia. |
|
