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Language-based communication strategies that support person-centered communication with persons with dementia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 June 2015

Marie Y. Savundranayagam  and
Kelsey Moore-Nielsen
Marie Y. Savundranayagam*
Affiliation:
School of Health Studies, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada
Kelsey Moore-Nielsen
Affiliation:
School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Marie Y. Savundranayagam, PhD, School of Health Studies, Faculty of Health Sciences, Arthur & Sonia Labatt Health Sciences Building, Room 219, Western University, London, ON Canada N6A 5B9, Canada. Phone: (519) 661-2111 x82215. Email: msavund@uwo.ca.
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Abstract

Background:

There are many recommended language-based strategies for effective communication with persons with dementia. What is unknown is whether effective language-based strategies are also person centered. Accordingly, the objective of this study was to examine whether language-based strategies for effective communication with persons with dementia overlapped with the following indicators of person-centered communication: recognition, negotiation, facilitation, and validation.

Methods:

Conversations (N = 46) between staff-resident dyads were audio-recorded during routine care tasks over 12 weeks. Staff utterances were coded twice, using language-based and person-centered categories. There were 21 language-based categories and 4 person-centered categories.

Results:

There were 5,800 utterances transcribed: 2,409 without indicators, 1,699 coded as language or person centered, and 1,692 overlapping utterances. For recognition, 26% of utterances were greetings, 21% were affirmations, 13% were questions (yes/no and open-ended), and 15% involved rephrasing. Questions (yes/no, choice, and open-ended) comprised 74% of utterances that were coded as negotiation. A similar pattern was observed for utterances coded as facilitation where 51% of utterances coded as facilitation were yes/no questions, open-ended questions, and choice questions. However, 21% of facilitative utterances were affirmations and 13% involved rephrasing. Finally, 89% of utterances coded as validation were affirmations.

Conclusions:

The findings identify specific language-based strategies that support person-centered communication. However, between 1 and 4, out of a possible 21 language-based strategies, overlapped with at least 10% of utterances coded as each person-centered indicator. This finding suggests that staff need training to use more diverse language strategies that support personhood of residents with dementia.

Keywords

person-centered communicationlanguage strategiesstaff caregiversdementialong-term care
Type
Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 27 , Special Issue 10: Psychosocial and Ethical Aspects of Dementia , October 2015 , pp. 1707 - 1718
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2015 

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