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15 Dementia Communication Tips from an Admiral Nurse

A successful joint funding venture between the NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups and Dementia UK sees the launch of a new Admiral Nurse service across Norfolk. Six Admiral Nurses have been recruited to provide tailor-made services for South Norfolk, Norwich and North Norfolk.ย ย 

Admiral Nurse Clinical Team Lead –ย Emma Krzyz, talked to Age Space and shared with us some great information and advice.ย ย 

“When things get challenging or difficult for people living with dementia and their families, we will give them one-to-one support, guidance and practical solutionsย that can be hard to find elsewhere. Such as transitioning skills, coping with ‘Living Grief’, practical skills around communication and support on how to access local services.ย ย 

An Admiral Nurse will help families live more positively with dementia in the presentย and to face the challenges of tomorrow with more confidence and less fear.”ย 

Interestingly, Age Space learnt thatย The Admiral Nurse Team’s primaryย focus is the carer and helping them to look after someone living with dementia. I’m sure you’ll agree, that this is great news – finally the role of a carer is being recognised as needing more support.

A hot topic of discussion on our forum is the issue of how to communicate with someone living with dementia – it canย be incredibly difficult and indeed frustrating for the family. Dementia UK offerย theย below tips on how to improve communication which we hope will help.ย ย 

Communication Tipsย ย 

We communicate a lot through our body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice. If we appear to be positive, cheerful and confident, we can bring a sense of hope and reassurance to the conversation, and conversely if we appear resentful or unhappy, we can bring a sense of gloom.ย ย 

You could try:ย 

  1. Stopping what youโ€™re doing and focusing on the personย 
  2. Cut down on distractionsย 
  3. Saying their nameย 
  4. Touching the personโ€™s arm, if they feel comfortable with thisย 
  5. Smilingย 
  6. Introducing yourself every timeย 
  7. Speaking slowly, clearly and in short sentencesย 
  8. Listening carefully with empathy and understandingย 
  9. Giving the person plenty of time to answerย 
  10. Maintaining appropriate eye contactย 
  11. Using gestures or illustrate the meaning of what youโ€™re saying (e.g. miming drinking a cup of tea, or using photographs to explain)ย 
  12. Using simple and straightforward languageย 
  13. Being specific; try not to use pronouns such as he or she, use a personโ€™s name insteadย 
  14. Avoiding the use of too many open-ended questions or offering too many choicesย 
  15. Trying not to argue or quibbleย 

If you are struggling and would like to receive the support of an Admiral Nurse, contact your local GP for aย referral.ย ย 

Age UK Norwich offers free fortnightly workshops and more information regarding dates and session topics can be found here on the Age UK Norwich website.

Visit our Norfolk Dementia pagesย for more information on dementia services in Norfolk.ย 

Age Space parent pagesย contains lots more general information on dementia.ย 

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