DEMENTIA CARE Watch your language
Keen to change the way dementia is addressed across the care sector, Hannah Miller, Dementia Care Lead at Orchard Care Homes, says modifying language around this illness is essential to make positive progress.
At Orchard Care Homes, we are pioneering new ways to care for people living with dementia. We have made a ‘Dementia Promise’ to change the future of dementia care – both to those in our homes and across the wider sector. Our promise encompasses every aspect of care and incorporates our ever- expanding Reconnect communities. A vital change has been providing targeted, evidence-based training to all staff, both in the homes and within support roles, embedding integral values that do more than pay lip service to what people deserve and expect.
Beginning over 30 years ago with the work of Tom Kitwood, research, evidence and academic publications have provided guidance and advice on how dementia care should be structured. Kitwood discussed areas such as malignant social psychology and psychological needs, but to date, these critical elements have yet to truly impact care practice across the sector.
Legislation and national guidance attempt to reinforce these principles through the use of terms such as ‘person-centered care’, however, they are heavily lacking in their true intentions. Oſten just coining new phrases is not enough. Actions speak louder than words when it comes to making significant changes or understanding an illness and ongoing care needs.
“Actions speak louder than words when it comes to
making significant changes or understanding an illness and ongoing care needs.”
The use of psychotropic medication for people living with dementia experiencing distress has been a focus since 2009, when the government-commissioned Banerjee Report, Time for Action, was published. Fast-forward nearly two decades, and these medications are still being prescribed in cases where little evidence of non-pharmacological approaches is being thoroughly explored. We have seen first-hand through our Reconnect communities when people arrive distressed and heavily medicated, with non-pharma approaches not practiced consistently, if at all, in their former setting.
Those accessing care within Orchard’s Reconnect communities are significantly underrepresented in society and the difficulties they face are rarely featured in discussions. Orchard aims to change the lives of people with acute dementia by focusing on Reconnect services, training and further understanding. We believe we can make a real impact
- 40 - Caption: Hannah Miller, front, with Orchard’s Sunderland Reconnect team
to care across the sector and because our methods can be applied to even the most distressed and vulnerable members of society, they can and should be adopted for all people living with dementia in care homes.
Since launching our Reconnect communities, we have been able to evidence substantial improvements in people’s lives, including the reduced use of psychotropic medications. This takes time and requires investment in training, recruitment and changes to care environments. However, Orchard is dedicated to its work in this area and advocates for those whose voices have been lost. This commitment extends beyond care homes to external professionals and community organisations. We want people to continue to live the best life they can by accessing life outside of a care home, just as other members of society can.
Our Dementia Promise puts people at the centre of everything, starting with detailed knowledge of them as a person, home environments, connection to the outside world and educating those within the sector. If other care providers wish to follow our lead, we’d advise starting by looking at the language used in their services to describe people living with dementia.
Reviewing our day-to day language within care homes is important as it can sound functional or impersonal. For example, we would always refer to ‘a person living with dementia’, rather than ‘suffering from’; similarly, we like to refer to ‘our people’ rather than use ageist terms like ‘elderly or seniors’.
Once you begin to scrutinise your language and how, oſten unintentionally, this can dehumanise people, then you begin to set the wheels of change in motion. Without removing disabling and negative labels from our discourse, true change is not possible. Aſter all, language drives our thoughts, and our thoughts drive our behaviours.
www.orchardcarehomes.com
www.tomorrowscare.co.uk
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