Tools for Communicating with Individuals with Dementia

Christian Health Care Center (CHCC) in Wyckoff and the Alzheimer’s Association will present a special program open to the public entitled “Effective Communication Strategies: Tools for Communicating with Individuals with Dementia” from 4 to 5 p.m., Thursday, June 30, in the CHCC Auditorium (Use 700 Mountain Ave. entrance). Presenters will be Teresa DeLellis, LSW, Social Work Director, Heritage Manor Nursing Home at CHCC, and Claire Day, Senior Vice President, Alzheimer’s Association.

Attendees will explore how communication takes place when someone has dementia, learn to decode verbal and behavioral messages, and identify strategies to help caregivers connect and communicate at each stage of the disease. Communication is more than just talking and listening. It’s also about sending and receiving messages through attitude, tone of voice, facial expressions, and body language. As people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias progress in their journey and ability to use words is lost, families need new ways to connect.

To register, contact Teresa DeLellis at (201) 848-5867 or tdelellis@chccnj.org, or call the Alzheimer’s Association at (800) 272-3900.

CHCC provides a broad continuum of high-quality, compassionate care, offering superior senior-life, short-term rehab, and mental-health services. As a non-profit organization, we deliver care to our community based upon the Christian principles on which we were founded more than a century ago.

For more information, visit ChristianHealthCare.org.