{"id":26165,"date":"2016-04-20T15:59:46","date_gmt":"2016-04-20T19:59:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/toh.wpengine.com\/en\/?p=26165"},"modified":"2021-02-17T11:22:25","modified_gmt":"2021-02-17T16:22:25","slug":"dementia-patients-often-lose-second-languages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/uncategorized\/dementia-patients-often-lose-second-languages\/","title":{"rendered":"Dementia patients often lose second languages"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Maria A. Belisario, RPN, and other nurses on 4 West often make flash cards, with the family\u2019s help, to use with patients who have lost their English or French abilities and go back to using their mother tongue.<\/em><\/p>\n

When dementia patients reach a certain stage, they often lose any second languages they acquired \u2013 like English or French \u2013 and go back to using their mother tongue. That poses challenges for health-care providers, such as the nurses on 4 West.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a duty to accommodate, and will arrange for interpreters when patients have tests, doctor\u2019s appointments, family meetings or have to sign consent forms,\u201d explained Caiti Ford, Clinical Manager of 4 West Transitional Care Unit. \u201cBut it\u2019s hard when our patients are here sometimes for months and months. We can\u2019t have interpreters 24\/7, so nurses have a variety of approaches to communicate.\u201d<\/p>\n

For example, nurses ask family members to help make flash cards for often-used words and phrases, such as to go to the washroom, for water, or for pain control. Families are sometimes called to translate on the phone. Nurses have tried some translation apps, but haven\u2019t found one that works really well. Since most communication is non-verbal anyhow, nurses use a lot of gestures and hand signs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can be comforting without using language,\u201d said Ford. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot you can achieve non-verbally.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maria A. Belisario, RPN, said smiles, caring touch and a reassuring tone of voice cross most language barriers. She always learns a few words of the patient\u2019s language, and writes \u2018pain\u2019 on the care board so she remembers.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven with a few words in their language, they feel comforted,\u201d Belisario said. \u201cThey trust you more because you\u2019re making an effort.\u201d<\/p>\n

Patients who have never known either of Canada\u2019s official languages are generally better at communicating their needs, said Ford. \u201cWe could have up to five people at any one time who speak absolutely no English or French.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ford said her team has learned from experience that, even if they\u2019re communicating well on the unit, it\u2019s important to identify when conversations will become more medically complex so nurses can arrange for an interpreter.<\/p>\n

Serge Falardeau, Coordinator of the Accessibility Awareness and Planning Program, said that excellent communication between medical staff and patients is vital.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir health depends on it,\u201d said Falardeau. \u201cWhen necessary, qualified interpreters are available for critical medical appointments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Click here to book a cultural language interpreter<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maria A. Belisario, RPN, and other nurses on 4 West often make flash cards, with the family\u2019s help, to use with patients who have lost their English or French abilities and go back to using their mother tongue. When dementia patients reach a certain stage, they often lose any second languages they acquired \u2013 like […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":26166,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26165\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}