Supporting the person with dementia

Where possible try to

• involve the person with dementia in making decisions about everyday matters
• make time to listen to the person
• show kindness and be reassuring, and
• respect the person at all times.

Try not to

• appear cross with the person
• argue with the person, and
• ignore the person

Verbal communication

• speak in a calm way; notice the tone of your voice
• use short sentences giving a small amount of information
• give time for the person to respond or answer, and
• don’t argue about facts or try to ‘correct’ the person.

Non-verbal communication

• move to the person’s level
• maintain eye contact where possible, and
• use gestures, objects or signals as well as words; for example show the person an object that relates to what you are saying.

Remember

• you are very important to the person with dementia
• you make a big difference to how the person copes with the difficulties of having dementia, and
• people who struggle to communicate verbally may be more sensitive to body language and may respond differently.