Browsing by Author "Saarinen, Päivi"

Objectives. As the population ages, the prevalence of dementia will also increase. People with dementia are the largest group requiring round-the-clock nursing. As dementia progresses language and interaction skills decline. At the end person is using only non-verbal communication. It is then the responsibility of a care-staff to maintain interaction. The aim of this study is to get information on how nurses think people with severe dementia (PSD) are communicating and how they think they are communicating themselves. In addition, this study gathers information on what are the challenges and successes of the interaction between nurses and PSD. Methods. Method for the research was semi-structured theme interview. Interviewees were 10 care-staff members from two enhanced service housing units in Southern Finland. Themes for the interview were formed based on the previous research. The interviews were recorded and transcribed. The collected data was analyzed using content analysis. Results and conclusions. According to the nurses, PSD use mostly non-verbal communication. They use touching, looking, facial expressions, showing, emotions and physical condition. PSD made interaction initiatives and were thus active in interaction. Nurses used simple speech and non-verbal communication. They used gestures, facial expressions, presence, emotions and time giving. The biggest challenge in the interaction between caregivers and PSD was the lack of shared language which led to aggression and anxiety by PSD. Interaction was successful when nurses had enough time to face and care and they had shared understanding with PSD. Music was thought to have a positive effect on the interaction of PSD. Interaction between the caregivers and PSD is mostly based on non-verbal communication. Hurry and the lack of personnel cause challenges in interaction. Nursing staff’s ability to interact with PSD is central to person-centered nursing. The speech therapist´s expertise in interaction and communication could be utilized in nurse training.