Living Well With Dementia/LWWD/Well/Communicating

Words, Images, Procedures, and Experiences that Harm

Harmful words and images:

 *   Demented
 *   hostile
 *   Dysfunctional
 *   walking carcass
 *   Incoherent
 *   uncooperative
 *   Empty
 *   difficult
 *   Vegetative
 *   non-compliant
 *   Babbling
 *   Dependent
 *   Confused
 *   Shells
 *   nonhuman

Procedures and Experiences that Harm:

 *   Unnecessary and inappropriate assessments
 *   Being dismissed
 *   Being yelled at or scolded
 *   Using deception
 *   Not acknowledging remaining abilities
 *   Being treated like a child
 *   Being labelled
 *   Being excluded
 *   Focusing on the disease
 *   Being ignored
 *   Being made fun of, teasing or humiliating
 *   Being overprotected
 *   Being invalidated
 *   Being treated as an object
 *   Having things done to them without explanation
 *   Being silenced
 *   When people don’t listen

Give an example of how you might use each strategy listed above.

From: The Best Friends Approach to Alzheimer Care

bestfriendsapproach.com