Alzheimer's Therapeutic Communication

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In this essay I plan to be investigating Alzheimer’s disease and explaining how this disease would have an impact on a patient’s ability to communicate effectively. I will be looking into the disease process of Alzheimer’s, and how it affects a patient both physically and psychologically. I also will be looking in at the different techniques used to facilitate effective communication and how these techniques form, a therapeutic relationship between the nurse and the patient. I will also be exploring briefly the roles of speech and other therapists, and how they help to assist patients with communication impairments in a healthcare setting. Australia today is an aging population. There are 322,000 Australians with dementia, based on current…show more content…
Language and cognitive skills will continue to get worse as time goes by, but that does not stop the desire of the individual to communicate. (Vries, K. D. (2013). Communicating with older people with dementia. Nursing Older People, 24(4), 30-37.) According to Tabbners (2009), the aim of therapeutic communication between clients and nurses is to build a relationship to benefit the client. Therapeutic communication needs to be focused on the patient and purposeful. It involves knowledge of the concepts of communication, and the skill to do it. (Funnell, R.Tabbner's nursing care: Theory and practice.) The actual concept of communication involves five processes- the sender, the message, the channel, the receiver and the feedback. The sender is the individual that is beginning the process of communication by sending a message. The message generally is what the individual wants to say. The channel is how the individual is trying to send the message. The three main channels are auditory, which is spoken and heard word, the visual channel that uses sight and perception and the kinaesthetic channel that is physical touch and sensation. The receiver is whoever is interpreting the message and the feedback is the reaction to that message. (Daniels RN, R., & Brody RN, M. (2008). The nurse client relationship.…show more content…
It involves not only listening to the words but also the tone, pitch, enthusiasm and facial expressions. It is difficult for a patient with dementia to Understand what is being said to them, so it is important to watch tone and the language used. (Vries, K. D. (2013). Communicating with older people with dementia.) The first step in communicating with a patient with dementia is to assess what their level of impairment is. A person may have difficulty in remembering the meaning of words or phrases. Or it could be much more severe and affect the person with a total inability to speak. There are many different techniques that can be used when dealing with dementia patients such as using very simple language and instructions, give clear instructions and don’t overload the person with too much information or questions. (Funnell, R. Tabbner's Nursing Care, 2012) Speech therapists work with people who have difficulties in communication due to

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