The 36-Hour Day: A Family Guide to Caring for People Who Have Alzheimer Disease, Other Dementias, and Memory Loss (A Johns Hopkins Press Health Book)

by Nancy L. Mace

Here are some additional ways to communicate nonverbally: Remain pleasant, calm, and supportive. (Even if you feel upset, your body language will help to keep the person calm.) Smile, take the person’s hand, put an arm around his waist, or in some other physical way express affection, if you know this helps. Look directly at him. Look to see if he is paying attention to you. If he uses body language to signal that he is not paying attention, try again in a few minutes. Use other signals besides words: point, touch, hand the person things. Demonstrate an action or describe it with your hands (for example, brushing teeth). Sometimes if you get him started, he will be able to continue the task. Avoid assuming complex reasons for the person’s behavior. Because the person’s brain can no longer process information properly, he experiences the world around and within differently from the way you see things. Because nonverbal communication depends on a whole different set of skills than verbal communication, you may be better able to understand him by considering what it feels like he is saying rather than what you think he is saying, through either actions or words.