There is a kind of common misconception: people with Alzheimer’s or others with dementia tend to disconnect from the outside world today to enter their distant and unreal world, this is not true, but the person with Alzheimer’s is no longer who he was, he loses his identity to society and his feelings almost automatically lose its validity.
If you put yourself in the shoes of the person with dementia, you will realize that it is normal that he is afraid of the insistence of others, that he does not know how to express himself, that he does not know what he is saying. to them and they do not recognize their loved ones every day, they do not understand what is expected of them at all times.
- We rarely put ourselves in the shoes of people with Alzheimer’s.
- However.
- If we do.
- Will we realize how frightening and disconcerting daily life can be.
- So will we understand the distress or other emotional reactions that are considered disproportionate in our?Healthy.
- From the world.
In recent decades, people-centered models of care and communication have resurfaced, working to make the environments around the person with Alzheimer’s stimulating and welcoming.
In other words, we seek to empathize with the person with dementia, maintain their identity and generate a global attitude towards “behavioral changes”, which generate both shame and discomfort in the caregivers and those around them.
The authors who promote this model of care emphasize the need to preserve the principle of dignity for all, so use empathy to hear the inner reality of people with dementia.
The goal is to provide them with safety and strength, making the person feel valid and able to express his feelings, because only when a person can express himself again, he regains his dignity.
Because? Because to value is to recognize the feelings of the person. Validating means your feelings are true. By denying feelings, we deny the individual, unbanking his identity, and therefore create a great emotional vacuum.
According to CREA Alzheimer’s, the basic principles of the validation method are:
The latest Disney-Pixar film, “Viva?Is life a celebration?, shows us in a very emotional way how to meet people with Alzheimer’s, how to access their skin, their deepest feelings. He shows it with “Remind Me,” a song that certainly gives a sweet taste to the emotional harmonization it causes.
The fact that someone loses the ability to express themselves verbally does not mean that they do not have to express themselves, so it is essential to adapt to the needs of those affected, connect with their mental state and unite in the same feeling.
As Tomaino (2000) said, “It is always surprising to see a person completely separate, away from the present due to a disease like Alzheimer’s disease, come back to life when playing a known song. The person’s response can range from a change in posture to a living movement— from a sound to a verbal response.
But there’s usually an answer, an interaction. Often, these seemingly delusional responses can reveal a lot about self-preservation and show that personal stories can still be memorized.