Teaching Empathy And Conflict Resolution To People With Dementia

The way in which dementia is understood and treated is changing, with a growing focus on the individual's experience and person-centred approaches to care. Introducing a new model of dementia care that reflects on the role of a person with dementia within a community and their relationships, this guide for professional and family caregivers demonstrates how to facilitate positive relationships for peaceful living. By understanding the cognitive and physical challenges that older adults with dementia face, caregivers can practice empathic care that affords people with dementia increased freedom of expression and independence. Included here are techniques for conflict resolution that enable people with dementia to be active and self-initiating in times of distress and disruption. Looking at the basics of respect, empathy, and mindfulness, this book also provides hands-on training for employing these virtues in practice with a number of exercises to help achieve the goal of peaceful independent living.

This book is invaluable to nurses and all health and social care practitioners working with people living with dementia in a variety of contexts. It presents a series of true-to-life case studies tackling the ethical and practical dilemmas of dementia care and how to use theoretical approaches to come to potential solutions. The reader is encouraged to explore evidence-based approaches to practice, based on the professional reasoning and experience of the practitioner and the emotional psychological and practical needs of the person living with dementia. Key themes running through case studies include: effective communication, person-centred practice, social citizenship, strengths-based approaches and relationship-focused support, as well as organisational culture. Each case study provides readers with opportunities to experience and discuss clinical dilemmas in a safe space with an annotated thinking-aloud framework that allows them to unpack the elements of each situation so as to develop a range of solution-focused perspectives in order to overcome barriers and deliver best practice.

This practice-focussed resource shows dementia care professionals how to harness resilience in their daily practice when working with people living with dementia. Nurturing and developing resilience can hugely improve quality of life for people living with dementia, and as such it is an important tool for practitioners to provide targeted, meaningful support that fits into the lives of people with dementia and care partners. This book guides readers through the key concepts of resilience within the context of dementia and explains the unique challenges and opportunities of developing resilience in this situation. It also provides real-world examples of resilience in dementia assessment and care and suggests clear frameworks for applying resilience in daily practice, as well as template assessment sheets. A practical and accessible resource, this book helps professionals ensure that people with dementia are treated as individuals actively engaged in their own lives and in the care which they receive.

Effective communication is critical for everyone, and this insightful book teaches the skills needed by healthcare staff in their day-to-day interactions with people with dementia and their families. Often when people with dementia exhibit behaviour that challenges, it is an indication that their needs are not being met. The authors illustrate the key aspects of communication for the development of a skilled and confident workforce, capable of providing thoroughly effective care that reduces levels of agitation in people with dementia. The first six chapters describe the CAIT (Communication and Interaction Training) framework established by the authors. This is followed by chapters contributed by experts on the Positive Care ApproachTM, appropriate touch and communication with people in the late stages of dementia. Accessible and practical, it will help caregivers develop and articulate existing skills as well as gain new ones, allowing them to overcome the challenges faced when caring for people with dementia.

This new edited volume seeks to meet the growing need for ways to support people with dementia across the whole course and trajectory of dementia care, with a wide scope of expertise. The book addresses how practitioners and carers can apply psychosocial interventions - which take into consideration the individual, social and environmental aspects of a person's life - across this trajectory, right from the earliest stages through to practice in care home settings. Divided into four sections, each covers a different context in which people with dementia can be supported: at home; in community settings; family and carer support; and those in care homes and hospitals. In addition, there is a distinct focus throughout on evidence-based practice and its implementation in real-world settings. This book is essential reading for any practitioner and caregiver wanting to support people with dementia.

By critically exploring interdisciplinary perspectives on empathy, this dialogical volume Exploring Empathy aims to generate deeper thinking about what is at stake in discussions and practices of empathy in the 21st century.

Improve your care by improving the functioning of your clients or residents with Alzheimer's disease. Discover how the principles of Montessori education can help people with dementia maintain or improve skills needed in their daily lives. With these 41 step-by-step activities you can enhance the skills used to perform basic tasks, such as self-feeding, preparing simple meals, dressing, participating in recreational activites, and more. The secret to success of these activities is that they are open-ended so individuals gain a sense of accomplishment at any level of participation; intellectually stimulating and meaningful; adaptable - with suggestions for increasing or lowering the level of difficulty as needed; and springboards to many new variations of activities. Without doubt, Montessori-Based Activities for Persons with Dementia was designed with the busy activity professional in mind. From brightly colored tabs to spiral binding to clear outlines and attention-grabbing callouts, this manual is ready to use right out of the package.

Dementia is an illness that causes no physical pain. But just ask anyone who cares about someone with Alzheimer's or another dementia if their heart isn't aching. The pain in dementia comes from feeling hopeless, alone, or disconnected from loved ones—but a broken relationship can be healed. This book is for family members and friends, for spouses, caregivers, and those who simply care. It outlines a path to a life with dementia that includes more life and less illness. With imagination, compassion, empathy, and quiet humor, the real-life stories in Dementia Together show you how to build a healthy dementia relationship. Because there are ways to communicate that result in greater capacity to receive as well as to provide both warm connection and practical collaboration. Living with dementia gives everyone an opportunity to grow their hearts bigger. This book shows you how.