{"id":3021,"date":"2013-12-02T13:49:35","date_gmt":"2013-12-02T13:49:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.talkingmats.com\/?p=3021"},"modified":"2013-12-02T13:49:35","modified_gmt":"2013-12-02T13:49:35","slug":"can-social-care-symbols-used-people-dementia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.talkingmats.com\/can-social-care-symbols-used-people-dementia\/","title":{"rendered":"Can the Social Care symbols be used with people with dementia?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I recently used the \u2018Talking Mats Social Care\u2019 pack in a Care Home with 3 residents, Ann, Barbara and Colin, \u00a0who all have dementia. Neither Ann nor Barbara were wearing their glasses but all three were able to see and recognise the symbols and use Talking Mats to express their views. All three conversations took place in the lounge where the TV was on, staff were moving around and and where other residents were chatting.<\/p>\n

Ann, whose mat is at the top of this blog, used the \u2018Activities\u2019 set and very quickly understood what to do although at times she needed to be reminded what the top scale meant. She said she was a very happy person and didn\u2019t think I would find anything that she didn\u2019t like but as we went through the symbols she became more thoughtful and said that she did not like DIY, exercise or knitting and sewing. She used the mid-point to indicate the things she used to enjoy but does not do now. She was delighted when she saw how positive her overall mat was.<\/p>\n

\"Barbara\"<\/a>
\nBarbara used the \u2018You\u2019 set to tell me how she felt about herself. Although she could have placed the symbols, she preferred to sit back, tell me what she thought and let me place them for her. She felt fairly positive about most things although she was aware that her eyesight and her memory were not as good as they used to be. She also joked that she never had enough money.<\/p>\n

\"Colin\"<\/a>
\nColin has dementia and is also profoundly deaf. He has only recently moved into the care home so we used the \u2018Where you live\u2019 set of symbols. Colin said several times that he didn\u2019t think there was any point in having a conversation as he can\u2019t hear. However after writing down the reason for doing it, he gradually realised that he could use the symbols to understand what I was asking and then express himself. He said he was generally happy with the Care Home although he missed his garden and found it hard to make friends now as he cannot hear what the other residents are saying. He also felt there are not enough activities that he can take part in. He mentioned that he has a pet dog but doesn\u2019t know what has happened to it since he moved. One of the staff said he would try to find out. He seemed satisfied with the final mat and staff felt it would be useful to use Talking Mats more with him to reduce his isolation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I recently used the \u2018Talking Mats Social Care\u2019 pack in a Care Home with 3 residents, Ann, Barbara and Colin,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3023,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[53,8,51,17],"tags":[13,18,42,52],"class_list":["post-3021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aac","category-blog","category-dementia","category-participation","tag-talking-mats","tag-participation","tag-aac","tag-dementia"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCan the Social Care symbols be used with people with dementia? - Improving Communication, Improving Lives<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Using Talking Mats Social Care symbols with people with dementia in a Care Home setting\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.talkingmats.com\/can-social-care-symbols-used-people-dementia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Can the Social Care symbols be used with people with dementia? 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