Dialogue

I undertook Dementia Awareness training with Dementia Friends today with Dwell Time and our partners Penistone Line Partnership. What was striking was the difference is approach in dialogue with people with dementia and mental health. With mental health issues, it’s advised to not ‘feed into delusions’ but conversely with dementia sufferers, the advise is the opposite and to ‘play along’ with the stage of memory they have assess to. For example if the person has forgotten the last 30 years and believes their spouse is still alive and their kids are at school, it’s less painful to go along with that then to tell them daily that their spouse is dead and they are 30 years older than they think and have no memory of the last 30 years. With mental health delusions, ‘playing along’ with someone’s delusions can strengthen the beliefs and potential cause more damage to their mental health. With somebody you know or work with who has a diagnosis and care plan, this distinction may be relatively easy but a stranger in the community it could be difficult to ascertain through short term dialogue.