5 minute read
INTERACTION HAS POWERFUL BRAIN HEALTH BENEFITS
Learn to support loved ones with dementia
Teepa Snow
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Social connections, social purpose and social support are three critical factors for living a life with satisfaction when dementia is part of living. Studies have shown that people who live with dementia, and yet stay engaged, will have a higher quality of life, with fewer emergency health events.
Why is social interaction and engagement with a purpose so vital to humans?
When we socialize, our brains get really active, they work hard. It’s like exercise for the brain. Positive social engagement produces hormones and chemicals that are essential to our wellbeing and survival. Endorphin, dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin are powerful chemicals that keep us going. The lack of these chemicals can result in failure to thrive, loss of interest in survival and possibly the production of adrenaline and cortisol to compensate. Cortisol, a stress hormone that is produced when we feel threatened, also creates significant health risks associated with it when it is released too often and too long, including an ever-changing, brain-altering condition like dementia. Therefore, social and physical engagement in life plays a key role in sustaining wellbeing when dementia is part of life.
People who are socially isolated are more likely to develop symptoms of dementia than those who stay socially active and involved in purpose-filled lives.
People who develop dementia, and establish a support system and life that keeps them involved and engaged in ways they still find satisfying and rewarding, experience less distress, fewer episodes of acute crises and have less need for emergency services.
Good news: social networking and social engagement is possible, even at the very end of life with dementia.
People who do not initiate social interactions, or who exhibit some of the more common symptoms of living with dementia, are more likely to be left out of social opportunities. Dementia’s impact on language, impulse control, initiation, sequencing, use of logic, working memory, visual fields and skills, interests and ability to sustain focus or disengage focus affect social-interaction skills and opportunities.
Deciding to decline offers to engage in social events and activities the person has always found enjoyable, because changes could be revealed, is common. If I have dementia, and I am aware of my changes, I may hesitate. If I have no awareness of my changes, “anosognosia,” I may cause others to become alarmed or distressed with my changed performance, behaviors or reactions, thus reducing their interest in issuing invitations.
The challenge, for those not living with the disease inside themselves, is to build new awareness, knowledge and skill. Learning how to adapt expectations, to modify offers of engagement and connection and to provide effective social support to match the changing abilities and needs of the person on the other side of the social equation requires commitment and flexibility. The good part about doing it, is that it is actually good for your brain as well.
Learning how to socially interact with people living with dementia is not rocket science. It simply takes a willingness to modify old habits, change old routines and learn some new ways of training yourself and your brain to adapt and communicate.
Simple techniques, such as offering the person time to process; making sure you are within visual range; pausing for responses; offering your hand in a friendly, familiar way; using a supportive stance; sequencing your cues; using either/or options for choices and using positive action starters rather than yes/no questions all play a role. These techniques are outlined in greater detail in Positive Approach® to Care methodologies.*
Did You Know?
Positive social interaction can boost these powerful hormones, which are great for brain health as well as overall mood!
Endorphin Serotonin Dopamine Oxytocin
Teepa Snow is a dementia expert with 40 years of clinical and academic experience. She provides training and consulting for healthcare professionals and families. To learn more about her company, Positive Approach® to Care, visit www.teepasnow.com.
Five Ways to Reduce Your Risk of Dementia
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Notice and use positive coping strategies to manage distress. Start by pausing and breathing deeply from your diaphragm.
Get the ”just-right-amount” and duration of sleep. Consider getting any sleep issues investigated and practice good sleep hygiene.
Get or stay socially connected in meaningful and enjoyable ways. Sometimes animals, children or environments are good ways to connect with people as well.
Exercise with pleasure. Get your body and your brain to do something active and invigorating each day. Try dancing with a partner or walking the dog.
Eat moderately, eliminate junk food and replace intake with doing something of value.
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We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.
– Maya Angelou
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