A new first-of-its-kind study has found that caregiver-partner communication improves among couples as they manage dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, but it takes practice.
These couples have tried countless communication strategies, but most of them simply do not work. The troubling facts show that impaired communication leads to misunderstandings, conflict, isolation, and loss of intimacy.
How Researchers Improved Communication Between Caregivers & Care Receivers
To study new and effective communication strategies, researchers created a 10-week in-home intervention to support couples affected by dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Findings uncovered that involving both partners in the intervention (using coaching and role-playing) communication led to improved relations between partners.
The study, published in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, demonstrated how creative ways of working with these couples can change their communication behaviors in just ten weeks.
The approach, termed “CARE” (Caring About Relationships and Emotions) was designed to increase helpful communication in the caregiver and social communication in the care receiver (Alzheimer’s disease/Dementia patient).
The relationship-focused intervention also was designed to reduce disabling behavior (impairing engagement such as criticizing or quizzing their partner’s memory) in caregivers and unsociable behavior (such as not making eye contact) in care receivers.
Researchers were pleasantly surprised that care receivers improved more than the caregivers following the intervention.
Care receivers with moderate dementia had statistically significant improvement in their social communication both verbally and non-verbally. They were more interested and engaged, maintained eye contact, responded to questions, stayed on topic, and even joked with and teased their partners.
Caregivers’ communication also showed a statistically significant improvement in their facilitative communication (promoting engagement) and a statistically significant decrease in their disabling communication.
“Caregivers are not experts in communicating with people with dementia. Sometimes they choose strategies they think are helpful but may be ineffective.”
“Also, they often give up communicating with their less verbal partners because benefits are not as obvious,” said Christine L. Williams, D.N.Sc., principal investigator of the study and a professor and director of the Ph.D. in Nursing Program at Florida Atlantic University College of Nursing.
“By teaching caregivers about their partners’ ongoing needs for closeness, comfort, inclusion, love, and respect, they can make a difference in how they perceive their spouses and how facilitative communication, both verbal and non-verbal, can contribute to their well-being.”
For the study, couples received a manual at the start of the intervention with 10 weekly modules on various communication issues. Researchers met weekly with the care receiver and caregiver separately, followed by a meeting with the couple together. At the end of the couples’ session, they were asked to converse unobserved by the researchers for about 10 minutes on a topic of their choosing. That session was videotaped.
Researchers assessed caregivers’ learning needs, increased their communication self-awareness, knowledge about communication decline in dementia, common care receiver emotional reactions to lost abilities, and how to use communication strategies to maintain a caring relationship.
Role-play between the interventionist and the caregiver was incorporated when additional practice was needed to demonstrate a specific strategy. Caregivers were coached to identify their communication style and that of their partners. Researchers also conversed each week with the care receivers to encourage their efforts to verbally express their thoughts, feelings, preferences, and needs.
Williams used a rating scale to measure the outcomes of the intervention and analyzed and scored 118, 10-minute videos of each of the couples’ sessions. Measuring both caregiver and care receiver communication over several weeks provided a complete picture of changes over time.
“This intervention is important because there are no other programs specifically developed for couples where one has Alzheimer’s disease or dementia,” said Williams.
“While marital counseling is available, it’s very different when you have one partner who is losing their ability to communicate. We don’t teach families how to communicate with someone with dementia and it is desperately needed.”
The investigation is timely as more than 5.4 million American adults in the United States have Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias and more than 15 million family members care for them at home.
Moreover, a substantial number of caregivers, 40%, are spouses. Spouse caregivers have reported high burden and stress and require $9.7 billion in stress-related health care.
Couples Counseling in Orange County From Jennifer De Francisco
Learning to communicate with your partner can be a long and enduring process. When one person in a couple experiences memory loss from dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, the communication process can become even more difficult. Even without the added stress of health issues like Alzheimer’s or Dementia, communication isn’t always easy for couples. If communication is an issue in your relationship, couples counseling may be able to help.
Couples counseling is typically associated with couples in danger of breaking up or divorcing, but counseling is always helpful, even in stable relationships. It helps couples learn how to communicate effectively and how to better work together to solve problems, among many other benefits.
Jennifer De Francisco, MPA, MSW, LCSW, offers couples counseling in Orange County, CA for couples at any stage in their relationship. Her approach provides a safe environment to open and honestly share thoughts and emotions. Through developing a positive, therapeutic relationship, you and your partner can interpret what is going on, both in your life and in the session, creating a better awareness within your relationship. Contact Jennifer De Francisco by calling (949) 251-8787 or make an appointment online.
Source: Florida Atlantic University