Discover a New Approach to Connecting with Facilities
Imagine if you had a salesperson who could present to a whole life community every month. You could have direct consumer referrals pouring into your agency!
That level of expertise is available to you, through the Community Calls Program.
Here is a sample of our Communication With Dementia Patients Script that is provided for your organization. (…and yes, you can literally read it verbatim as your own presentation)
Sample:
There are very few things within our control when it comes to dealing with Alzheimer’s dementia. But one essential thing we can manipulate is how we talk to people with this disease. We have come up with 25 rules of communication, which we encourage you to use when caring for your patient or loved one.
As we have said before, dementia is a very thick book with lots of chapters. There’s a chapter called Alzheimer’s. There’s a chapter called Lewy Body. There’s a chapter called Multiple Infarct (or stroke) dementia. All of them are different diseases, and they all have other causes, but they lead to dementia, which is thinking problems. That’s all that word means. So understand your loved one can have a stroke or be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. They both have memory issues. One is due to blood pressure; one is a horrible disease.
Once again, we are going to reiterate the three cruel realities of Alzheimer’s dementia. One, the whole brain is dying. Two, it is progressive, and three, there is no cure. There are drugs and medications that help, but they don’t cure. They are just buying you some quality time. The following communication strategies should help you better understand the disease while optimizing the quality of time you have with your patient or loved one.
COMMUNICATION
When we talk about communication, we are referring to both verbal and nonverbal. Verbal is the actual words you are speaking. The nonverbal is how you say them, the tone you use, your body posture, hand gestures, tone, volume, inflection, and facial expression. Ninety percent of all communication is nonverbal. So pay attention to not only the words you are speaking but the body language and the nonverbal cues you are sending.
An important courtesy to always remember is to not talk past your loved one or talk at them. Instead, talk to them. It happens all of the time. You take your spouse or parent to the doctor, and the doctor talks to you and asks about your loved one (let’s say Mom), and she is sitting right there. And you two might be having this conversation about her without including her at all. No one likes to be cut off from the conversation, especially if they are the topic of the discussion. Include them.
THE 25 RULES
Okay, let’s go over the 25 rules of communication.
Rule number one: Try to stay in the moment. Listen to what your loved one or the patient is trying to say. Remember, they have problems with short-term memory. Don’t make them go in the future or past; they can’t do that for you.
Rule number two: If they do not understand you, then rephrase the question. “Let’s go to dinner.” Or “Let’s have supper.” You have two different requests, but it’s the same thing. Also, if you are a medical professional, don’t use medical terms EVER. Example: “I’m sorry, you seem to be suffering some dysphagia, and you also have some A-fib.” It’s easier to say you are having trouble talking, and your heart is fluttering all the time. People understand that. Some caregivers working with dementia patients might ask, How are your activities of daily living going? Instead, say, Can you dress? Can you put your shoes on? How are things going in the bathroom? Make it simple.
Rule number three: If their speech is hard to understand, use what you know about them to get what they are trying to tell you. People with dementia will delve into their long-term memory for you. For example, a patient can say to us every detail about his service during World War 2, but he can’t tell us what’s going on in the here and now. He goes back into his long-term to try to communicate that he’s frustrated. So we listen to where he’s going with his World War 2 metaphor. It turns out he is upset with his wife, who has Parkinson’s. He doesn’t understand why she is failing. We say, “She has a horrible disease,” and he understands that.
Rule number four: If they are sad, let them express their feelings. Avoid the cheerleader syndrome. If you walk in and Mom is crying, you say, “what’s wrong?” She responds, “Daddy.” You can do two things at this point. You can roll your eyes and say, “My goodness, he’s been gone ten years!” or you can say, “Let’s talk about Dad.” She’s missing Dad. The fact that he died ten years ago isn’t essential. What we suggest you not say is, “He’s been gone ten years, get over it, come on, let’s go out to lunch.” Let them express their feelings when they are sad. It’s a horrible disease, and they can pop up with reasons they are unhappy: Image how frustrating it is not to remember things; They are losing themselves. They know this as they progress through early-stage and middle. They know when they are losing it.
Rule number five: Get their attention before you speak. We have this incredible ability to walk down the hall, and someone yells, “Hey!” we automatically turn toward the voice, recognize the person, and address them. Simple. Demented people have lost that ability. If you come in and your dad is walking down the hall, and you go, “Dad! Dad!” chances are they have lost that ability to react to your voice and turn around. If you want their attention, get eye contact with them. Catch up with them, step around.
Rule number six. Make sure that they can see you. If they cannot see you, then you don’t exist. Never startle someone with dementia because they startle easily. If you come up behind them and put your arm around them and ask, How are you doing? Don’t be surprised if they get scared. So always make sure you have their attention. If you are in a dimly lit room, turn on some lights. If you take care of a loved one at home, turn on some lights before you go in.
Rule number seven: Make eye contact. This non-verbal shows that you are interested. We all know how irritating it was when you looked at your kids and said, Have you cleaned your room?” and they roll their eyes at us. Be aware of cultural differences. In some cultures, it’s not polite to stare at somebody.
End of Sample
How Companies Have Used Communication Calls
During Covid, companies have presented the educational sessions over communities’ closed-circuit TV or call-in presentations. Once this pandemic is under control, we will be allowed to come back in and do educational talks in person. Many of our clients use Community Calls to do health talks as a reason to break into a new building.
They approach the building Administration and ask if they would like to offer any of the following to their community members and families.
Health Talks
Caregiver Support Groups
Senior Issues
Even now, many of the communities are looking for ways to grow their census. Knowing that piece of information is important because now you can offer to advertise the monthly session at local pharmacies and invite seniors that live in the community to attend.
At the end of the talk, the building can offer tours of the facility. Now, not only are you putting their name out in the community, but you are also bringing in people to tour their facility and ultimately move in! Do you think they will be referring to anyone else? No way!
The program includes all of the following:
This program consists of educational programs that you can do once a month at senior centers, assisted living facilities, and or independent living facilities.
We provide the following pieces for each topic:
Powerpoint presentation
Presenters Script with Call to Action to identify potential referrals
Handout Flyer that you can personalize for your organization
Instructional video to teach you how to use the program
Check it out here:
Want to learn more? Just email [email protected] or jump right on his calendar. Mike will be happy to set you up with a free demo of the Community Calls Program!
Keep Helping, Keep Serving,
Cheryl Pelekis, RN “The Solutionist”
PS. – I used this program to win one of the largest whole life communities as a new “A” account!
