You might have some wonderful memories of sitting out on the porch with your loved one, discussing all types of topics, from your favorite sports team to local news to how your nieces are managing college. Having special memories like that is a treasure and one of the hardest things to lose when your loved one advances along in Alzheimer’s.

Alzheimer’s slowly takes away your loved one’s ability to easily generate memories as well as her ability to communicate clearly and engagingly. Alzheimer’s care professionals can offer specialized support and communication tips for families with seniors with Alzheimer’s.

Communication Changes Don’t Mean You Stop Communicating

Since your loved one with Alzheimer’s disease cannot change or improve upon her ability to communicate at this stage, it’s up to you as a caregiver to adjust how you communicate with her. By learning new techniques from Alzheimer’s care and like the ones below, your communication with her can be pleasant for both of you and still provide some heartwarming moments.

You may not have those long, deeply involved conversations that last until the wee hours of the morning, but you’ll still find pockets of joy along the way.

Five Things to Do to Improve Communication

1. Learn their nonverbal cues. Your loved one may not express thoughts and feelings as well verbally but will show those feelings with nonverbal cues. Stay in tune with those cues to extract more from the conversation.
2. Give her time to process. Sometimes it may take a bit for your loved one to process an instruction or even a question.
3. Be patient. You might want a simple quick yes or no, but your loved one may take a bit to decide what her answer should be, even to what may seem like a simple question to you such as do you want eggs or pancakes. Be patient and kindly prompt again if an answer takes a while.
4. Use humor. Your loved one will still enjoy a bit of a joke or funny story to help them communicate with you so don’t be afraid to be silly sometimes. It can lighten up a tense moment and help your loved one move forward.
5. Try redirection. If a conversation is causing tension or anxiety in your loved one, try to direct her attention elsewhere instead of using reason to talk her out of her negative thoughts.

Five Things Not to Do When Communicating

1. Lose your temper. Yelling and becoming angry will only frighten and confuse your loved one, no matter how frustrated you are. Keep it cool for better results.
2. Belittle them or treat them like children. Talk to your loved one respectfully and with kindness for the best results.
3. Take it personally. If your loved one gets angry easily, remember it’s the disease talking, not them. Some patients with Alzheimer’s can get verbally abusive, so redirect when this occurs.
4. Be insistent on anything. Sometimes, it’s okay to just stop a task or conversation when it’s not working for them.
5. Ask too many open-ended questions. Ask questions with easy yes or no options.

Alzheimer’s Care Providers Can Help with Communication Needs

Having a trained Alzheimer’s care provider come to your home can help you learn new ways to communicate better with your loved one. Alzheimer’s care providers are trained in how to interact in positive ways with patients that will provide the results you and your loved one desire. An Alzheimer’s care provider can also step in to provide you relief so you can try again later.

Amelia Home Care provides traditional Alzheimer’s Care in Bronx, NY, along with virtual caregiving and remote patient monitoring. Our service area includes Brooklyn, Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island, and Westchester County. Call today at (929) 333-3955

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Amelia Home Care Staff

Owner at Amelia Home Care

As a home care provider, we want you to trust us with your personal and health needs. Know who we are and our aim.

We proudly provide non-medical home care services to individuals with disabilities, injuries, difficulties with mobility, or illnesses. Our team is composed of highly trained and competent staff members who are dedicated and experts in delivering home care services in the comfort of our client’s home.

Through our personalized care plan, we can give you the needed care services that are all intended to cater to your unique personal and health needs. With us, we ensure around-the-clock services and supervision to help you achieve optimum health and wellness.

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