Communicating with people with memory loss or confusion
Some older people acquire one of many forms of dementia as they age (approximately 20% of people over 80 have some level of Alzheimers disease, which includes memory loss). Medication can also affect memory, and/or cause confusion. If you notice someone has poor memory, or appears confused, make sure you:
- Allow time for communication
- Maintain a calm manner
- Be aware the person may lack confidence
- Write down instructions
- Check that the person understands and is satisfied with the information given
- Find another way to express the information, if the inquirer does not appear to understand
- Use simple language and sentence structure
- Avoid background noise
- Find a quiet place to talk
- Use visual cues and gestures.
There is some software available to provide cueing and planning assistance to people with cognitive disorders. See the Usage page for more information.
Website useability will increase if navigational links are easy to find and use a different colour to demonstrate when the user has visited that page. This acts as a memory jogger.