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Hi, Irini, Dressing, and bathing is a valuable opportunity to meet emotional needs and offer compassionate touch. Use open-ended conversation by using questions that require more than a ’yes’ and ‘no’ answers. For instance: questions starting with ‘how’ and ‘what if’ like: ‘What if I wash your hair today? - ’What if after the bath/dressing I take you to sit in the sun? - How do you feel after a nice warm shower? - How about if I told you I am having problems buttoning your blouse correctly? Open-ended questions yield more information; they are especially good to start a conversation. You may talk about yourself: What if I told you I went to bed last night after midnight? Or about the facility: How do you like to have Potato & Leeks soup for lunch? (find out what is on the menu). Make sure you really listen to the resident to build trust and rapport. With a little practice, you can turn any question into an open-ended question.

Hi Irini! The majority of our nursing staff were given a 3 day Dementia training by an accredited organisation. I, being a nurse can not tell how priceless the training is. All of the information Solange said and more!

Hi Irini

It of course depends on what type of resident you are talking about

Those with dementia are much more difficult

Those with dementia are much more difficult

In general treat the resident like they were your friend and engage them the way you would engage your friend

For those who do not want to do something give them a choice of two things both of which you want them to do

You could say something like do you want to wear this outfit or this outfit then you could open up the conversation to say my favorite color is whatever the outfit color is it makes me feel

How does it make you feel

If they do not want to do something you could also say do you want to do it now or in 10 minutesYou could approach them a little bit later if they seem resistant or you could have someone else approach them

You may be able to use some ideas in this article

https://www.goldencarers.com/how-to-get-reluctant-residents-to-attend-activities/5980/

Solange and Hilma also had good ideas

Let me know if there’s a specific type of resident that you are talking about

Thanks for your inquiry

Obviously you care deeply about the residents