First Responder Training on Interacting with Individuals Living with Cognitive Impairment

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We know that conditions and/or injuries such as Parkinson’s disease, stroke, dementia, or a brain injury that leads to cognitive impairment, affects memory, reason and perception making the simplest daily tasks challenging.

Individuals living with conditions that cause cognitive impairment can often display so-called behaviors that can make daily life very difficult. Some of these include: paranoia; aggression; communication problems; and wandering.

If we consider that these ailments are not readily identifiable, i.e. as opposed to someone who is in a wheelchair and there is clear evidence that supports their disability without them having to say a word,  it will therefore take a skillfully aware and knowledgeable first responder to pick up on the nuances of these disorders and then be able to incorporate different styles of communication strategies, using all the senses, to glean what is being said beyond the spoken word and/or avoid escalating an already tentative situation.

Evidence-based practice denotes that those living with cognitive impairments move from a world of language to one of feeling.  By better understanding their disease, we know then that we must change how we communicate, as we cannot expect them to be able to understand ‘normally.’

“Provided insight about signs and clues that a person is living with cognitive impairment and how to interact better to garner the information we need from them in the field.” — Testimonial, July 2021

In this 2.5 hour program participants will:

  • Identify the manifestations of cognitive impairment;

  • Define the goals of communication;

  • Describe the barriers to effective communication;

  • Describe the various forms of communication and how this impacts the message;

  • Demonstrate active listening skills;

  • Define enhancers and detractors of communication;

  • Define so-called behaviors and how to deescalate; and

  • Describe resources and directives that can be useful to the person, their support systems and those interacting with them.

“Instructor was great and very knowledgeable about the topic.” — Testimonial, July 2021