Compassionate Touch as a Therapeutic Approach in Combating Behavioral Expressions
Being able to communicate is an essential skill needed to fulfill basic human needs. Imagine if you were no longer able to communicate your basic needs? What if when you spoke the words came out jumbled? Or, when you listened to others, you heard only garbled voices? Dementia can rob someone of their ability to communicate the way they once knew. In memory care it is not uncommon to see negative behavioral expression like verbal or physical aggression as a way of communicating needs such as hunger or boredom. Compassionate Touch is an approach combining skilled touch and specialized communication shown to prevent behavioral expression in people with dementia.
At Comforts of Home we are excited to have been able to participate in Compassionate Touch training. Our certified Compassionate Touch coaches are training all Comforts of Home staff in the techniques and we are seeing some exciting outcomes with our residents that include improved sleep, decreased anxiety, and decreased use of anti-psychotropic medications. Compassionate Touch has also given our staff tools to improve communication skills with residents and is allowing staff to further personalize care plans to meet the needs of each individual. Comforts of Home is eager to continue using the Compassionate Touch approach to enrich the lives of our residents and staff.
