Walk a Mile in My Shoes

Imagine what an individual with dementia feels or thinks. As a caregiver, stepping into the shoes of your loved one can help you foresee challenges that may be avoidable.

Interact in the appropriate environment. Your goal as a caregiver is to reduce anxiety and promote tranquility in an environment. This allows your loved one to focus on one thing at a time. Use all five senses to look at an environment; what are you seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling. How can you structure the environment to be best for your loved one?

Effective communication between caregivers and individuals with dementia can be difficult. All types of behavior are forms of communication. Your goal should be to find the root cause of the behavior, allowing you to find an unmet need that can be met. A caregiver shared a story of her loved one. Every meal, the affected individuals picked up bread and began pinching it off and throwing it on the floor. The caregiver thought she was, in her mind, feeding ducks or birds. But when the caregiver considered her history of growing up on a farm she realized her job was to feed chickens. The slight investigation into her past changed things; she was in need of a job. The caregiver let her assist with serving lunch and this was never a problem again because the caregiver got to the root cause.

When you walk in the shoes of someone else, the empathy and patience gained is immediate and is likely to have a lasting impact. Profound improvements in care can take place when caregivers are empowered with knowledge of a different perspective.