“I am a health professional – what are your best tips for caring for people living with dementia?”

We asked two of Dementia Australia’s dementia learning experts – Garrie and Karen – for the practical tips and strategies they share with health and aged care professionals who care for people living with dementia.

Here’s what they told us:

What are the top practical tips, strategies, and advice that you share with aged care professionals to support them to care for people living with dementia?

Garrie: My best tip would be to slow down when you are engaging with a person with dementia.

It  may take longer to take things in, to process the information, to make sense of what you are doing and saying, and to put together a response.

Karen: The most important piece of advice is to get to know the person.

Each person is unique so ensure the support you provide is individualised to the person.

Discover their background, their beliefs, habits, routines, occupation, hobbies etc.

We can use this information to engage and communicate with the person and best support them with independence, meaningful activities, quality of life and an enabling environment.

Treat the person with respect and dignity.

A person living with dementia has value and can contribute to their community.

Support the person to find a valuable role and a way to contribute that is of interest and suits their abilities.

For example, they may want to volunteer to fix and clean equipment from the local childcare centre, knit knee rugs for the children’s hospital, deliver the mail to the residents, etc.

What advice do you find resonates the most with the aged and health care professionals who complete Dementia Australia’s dementia training?

Garrie: Try to make any engagement with the person meaningful for them.

People living with dementia may find everyday tasks challenging and confusing, so if you can provide them with a meaningful reason to shower, get dressed, eat a meal, etc, they may find the task less daunting.

Part of our job is often to give the person a reason to get out of bed, get dressed, have a shower.

Karen: Support communication through body language and non-verbal cues as the use of words may not always be as effective when communicating.

Set up the environment and match what you are saying with demonstration and familiar cues.

For example, when supporting a person living with dementia with activities of daily living such as a shower, consider how you might set up the environment and provide cues to make your message more obvious.

You might turn on the shower so they can hear the water, then put a towel and face washer over your arm.

All these cues will be familiar and assist the person to understand what you are trying to communicate, as well as the use of helpful words.

Are there any tips people seem surprised to learn about?

Garrie: If you discover a strategy that works with someone, for example singing a particular song with them, talking about a person they love or an activity that motivates them, look for ways to share these strategies with your colleagues.

Ideally, these calming approaches could be included in the person’s care plan and/or communicated to colleagues during hand-over.

Knowing how to adjust your support so that the person’s independence is maintained as much as possible promotes their dignity and well-being.

When we are experiencing higher levels of well-being we will be less stressed and in a better emotional place to engage in our everyday activities of daily living.

Karen: It is important to not place people living with dementia into the same box as there are many different types of dementia and different presentations of symptoms.

Dementia is not just about memory loss and forgetting things.

Gain an understanding of the different types of dementia and how they differ in presentation and impact on the person.

People living with dementia can still learn and maintain independence, given genuine care, dignity, familiarity, supportive cues and prompting.

Small changes can make a big difference.

Learn more

All of Dementia Australia’s Centre for Dementia Learning workshops and courses include fundamental dementia care advice.

Dementia Australia provides evidenced-based learning and consultancy services to help improve the quality of support and quality of life experienced by people living with dementia.

Visit the Centre for Dementia Learning to find out more about professional development, training opportunities and much more.

Alternatively, call 1300 DEMENTIA (1300 336 368) or email cdl@dementia.org.au with any enquiries.