Harry Stein has always been a gregarious extrovert who enjoyed meeting new people and, as a retired attorney, he had excellent verbal skills too. Then, around 2017, something changed. Like many people in the early stages of dementia, he was having difficulty recalling words and identifying locations.
“It's very bothersome," says Harry. "I just lost the ability to come up with the names of streets, and that's very troubling.”
Communication strategy for people with dementia
Harry’s experience is common, but SSM Health speech therapist Sarah Simon says patients with dementia can gain communication tools by getting speech therapy before the disease progresses too far. She taught Harry and others what’s known as compensatory word finding strategy. It requires patients to ask themselves these questions:
- Can I picture it?
- Can I gesture it or act it out?
- Can I describe it?
"They can give cues to the listener and continue to communicate as independently as possible," notes Sarah. “Otherwise, they often stop communicating altogether.”
Though it sounds simple, the strategy is quite helpful, especially when family and loved ones understand it as well. Harry says it has given him confidence to be social again.
"So, I can enter into a conversation with people,” he says with a smile.
Maintaining abilities and slowing decline
Sarah adds that Harry experienced improvement because he was willing to persevere and consider new ways of thinking.
"It’s all about trying to maintain the person's level of function and slowing further decline, which is really important so that people with dementia can engage in meaningful activities,” she says.
Most of Harry’s speech therapy sessions were done online, an option he found very convenient. Today, it’s been about six months since his therapy ended and he is still using the compensatory word finding strategy.
"I remember when Sarah said, just talk around it. Talk around it,” says Harry. “The person you're talking to will come up with the word for you, and it is true.”
Need a referral for speech therapy to treat symptoms of dementia? Schedule an appointment with your primary care provider today.
Watch Harry Stein and SSM Health speech therapist Sarah Simon demonstrate strategies for patients with dementia in a news story that aired on WISC-TV, Madison, Wisconsin’s CBS affiliate.
