“Looks are deceiving,” says 67-year-old Jim Mann. “I look fine but I have Alzheimer’s so, consequently, if you’re not aware, if you haven’t looked at the chart closely – you wouldn’t know.”

This was one of the messages heard by roughly 50 nurses, care aides, occupational therapists and other staff at VGH on February 24 during Jim’s 30-minute workshop.

“It was about giving them some insight as to what I, as a person living with Alzheimer’s, feel are important items to consider when dementia patients are in VGH, and trying to reduce the amount of reactive behavior.”

Jim, a former airline employee, is now patient advisor to Lillian Hung, a clinical nurse specialist in Medicine and Mental Health, whose working on her PhD dissertation research in nursing. Her research looks at person-centred care in acute care settings, with a focus on improving the physical and social environments for dementia patients in hospitals.

Lillian, who organized the workshop with Jim, says the experience was helpful in engaging frontline staff with an increasingly important and relevant topic. “It was education for staff about using the gentle persuasive approach to care for dementia patients, as explained by someone living with Alzheimer’s.”

“Being gentle, working with the patient, and looking behind the behaviours associated with dementia are important,” notes Doris Bohl, clinical nurse educator.

Her biggest takeaway from the workshop was when Jim said: “The dementia patient is not giving you a hard time, the dementia patient is having a hard time.” And it’s for this reason Jim, who was diagnosed at age 58, wears a lanyard, with a message that reads: “I have Alzheimer’s, please be patient with me.”

Other big insights garnered at the workshop are for clinical and other hospital staff to understand how frustrating and stressful memory loss can be, to focus on the dementia patient directly, and to slow down.

“If you’re trying to multitask at the same time you’re giving instructions to the dementia patient, it won’t work,” says Jim. “Keep instructions slow, concise, and avoid saying more than one thing at a time.”

Video

For an excerpt of Jim’s workshop with VGH staff, view the video here.