It is important that you always continue listening when engaged. You should listen with your eyes. Often a person living with dementia will start to become more withdrawn as the disease progresses. They are less likely to communicate with you. The words seem to lose their importance to the person. The person starts to become more of a physical being. Often this is when we see the person fidgeting, chewing, touching all the time.
The sensation feels good to the person. The brain is no longer allowing words to come out in a language that we can understand. During the progression of dementia words lose the importance to the person. This is especially holds true when the brain function turns to dementia. The physical touch seems to take on more meaning. There is more hand holding. Many love gentle massages. As progression of dementia, remember to do more listening with your eyes.
When you listen with your eyes, it conveys your thoughts to the person. Your feelings are important to. This is a way for you to cope in the process. Let the person know how you feel. You love or care for the person and they need to hear this. This can bring trust between the two of you when engaging. When this is accomplished, you will find even more and better ways to engage.
Be mindful of your identity. In other words, be true to yourself when engaging. The person you are engaging with can see with their eyes if you are being true to yourself. Presenting yourself as happy when you really are not happy is evident to person watching you. Some say that people with dementia are more likely to understand your real feelings. This is highly likely since they are judging you by your appearance versus what they think of you. The process of thinking is limited and therefore they are judging more frequently.
Perhaps it is crucial to think about how you make first impressions. This could be a first impression for each interaction. Concentrate on what the eyes are looking at. Are you engaging with the person with frustration? It is then very likely the loved on will become frustrated too. Are you teary eyed during the moments together? This reflects how the person with dementia will engage with you.
Turn yourself into a mirror. Think about how you look. Go ahead and look in a mirror before you engage. Think of the mirror as the eyes of the person you are going to visit. Listen with your eyes as to how you look, act, and feel. This can help with how the visit is going to be either a positive or a negative engaging moment. Take consideration how you want the moments to be engaging. Think with your eyes before interacting.
It is very difficult for caregivers to make progress with engaging and care when the person is constantly changing behaviors and moods. Again, listen with your eyes. Look at them and see how they are feeling. Engage in conversation. It can become frustrating and cause stress. It is a time to remember that more than likely they are frustrated at you. Here is something to consider. Anosognosia is a condition that people do not recognize they had a change in medical condition. It is very common with people who suffer from mental illness and also Alzheimer's/dementia.
This is a result from damage to the anatomical and physical changes to the brain. Our right side of the brain to detect changes in physical, emotional, and mental health. When damaged, the person has difficulty putting the changes into a sense of the reality. Signs to recognize look for are not taking care of self, becoming angry when topic comes up, and confabulation. Confabulation is making up answers that a person believes is true.
How do you approach this challenging issue?
1.Create a caring environment.
2.Be positive and encouraging.
3.Compassion and understanding.
This is very important...listen to what they are saying and don't react right away. This is a time to provide positive communication conversations for you and the person. Let the person know that you understand how they feel. This is providing empathy. Sometimes the person is more likely to listen to what you say after you have provided empathy.
Stay calm. Remember that you are not going to change their minds or convince this person. It's important to keep up with the day to day activities so you are making sure the person is safe. This might be a good time to keep in mind that as long it's not harming them don't worry about it. If you are concerned they can harm themselves come up with constructive ways to address the issue. Remember that you are not alone and there are millions of other caregivers going through the same issues. Talk with other caregivers and get support. Most importantly is to practice patience.
Learn to listen with your eyes and remain patient. You are going to need to remain calm when engaging. Take a moment to address the mood of the person you are engaging with. Perhaps it's time to end the moment of engaging together. Try another tactic. Examine the mood of the person and if you are really able to be engaged with the person. You need to listen with your eyes to change the environment or situation. But keep in mind that you are being judged by the person you are engaging with while the transition is occurring.

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