Tips and advice to support conversations with someone living with dementia are being shared by Royal Star & Garter.

Talking promotes connection, but this can be challenging when a loved one is living with dementia. So Royal Star & Garter, which has won multiple awards for its dementia care, including the Alzheimer Society’s Dementia Hero Award for Professional Excellence, is sharing its experience ahead of Dementia Action Week (15-21 May).

The charity provides loving, compassionate care to veterans and their partners living with disability or dementia, with Homes in Solihull, Surbiton and High Wycombe.

The advice has been put together on a simple-to-follow information card, gathered from Dementia Care Managers and Lead Nurses working in the Homes. They have used their daily experience of caring for people living with dementia to create the advice card.

It explains how they enter the reality of the person living with dementia, and why it is important to avoid getting frustrated. It also focuses on conversation prompts and how to handle challenging statements, such as “I want my Mum”, and the feelings that could lie behind that.

‘Important to share knowledge with people who may be struggling’

Pauline Shaw, Royal Star & Garter’s Director of Care, said: “At Royal Star & Garter, our staff build the most wonderful friendships and bonds with people living with dementia. The residents also benefit from meaningful interaction with Nurses, Healthcare Assistants, Housekeepers and Therapists in the Homes. We are fortunate to have staff who have a lived-experience and demonstrate outstanding person-centred care every day, and we feel it’s important to share this knowledge with other people who may be struggling. By showing how we support conversations in our Homes, we hope it will help others to enjoy their own meaningful conversations with loved ones.”

To receive the information card, sign up for free to Royal Star & Garter’s newsletter here: https://starandgarter.org/sign-up-for-news-daw/

Royal Star & Garter is welcoming new residents in each of its Homes. For more information on this, or working for the charity, go to www.starandgarter.org/solihull, www.starandgarter.org/surbiton, or www.starandgarter.org/hw