People with Dementia Know More Than You Think

One tends to think of Alzheimer’s patients as having had their brains wiped of memory, especially for names, places, and the recent past. This leaves them helpless and incompetent and unable to communicate effectively. But this may be wrong. In a report published in the medical journal Gerontologist, researchers describe how a lot depends on the questions we put to these patients. When they asked people with early to advanced Alzheimer’s disease their marriage, children, or caregivers, they got inadequate answers. But when they asked for advice, as in: “I’m thinking of having children. What advice can you give me on that?” they received more coherent, informative, and focused replies. Patients appeared to take their role as advisors quite seriously. They seemed eager to dispense useful information.

In a second study, six adults with dementia and six without, all in their 70s or 80s, were given a booklet of pictures to guide them in teaching someone a simple recipe (e.g. banana pudding). Both groups successfully taught students to make the recipes; however, the person conducting the experiment had to prompt the dementia subjects more often than the normal participants.

It looks as if we may have ‘written off’ people with Alzheimer’s too readily. The knowledge that they had accumulated as young adults was successfully retained. And in this study, asking them for timeless advice obviously ‘empowered’ them (to use a word I hate), or motivated them, to finish a task they had set themselves. If you interact with a friend or relative with Alzheimer’s, think about this approach when talking with them.