Most effective way to communicate with Alzheimer's patients identified

A study led by the UPF and with the involvement of the UAB concluded that the most effective way to talk to people with Alzheimer's disease is to speak with affection but with firmness; with a varied intonation; emphasising any important words; making an effort to articulate; to use a slow speed and a medium intensity; and to maintain a medium or thick tone. In contrast, one must avoid speaking to them quickly, paternalistically, with a high intensity, a sharp tone and a monotonous intonation that does not emphasise the important words or articulate them sufficiently.

This research is based on two separate studies, with a total of 312 participants, including both caregivers and people with Alzheimer's disease. The conclusions of the study with caregivers was published in the latest issue of the scientific journal Health Communication. The research was led by UPF lecturer Emma Rodero with the participation of UAB Department of Spanish Studies lecturer Carme de la Mota. The State Reference Centre for the Care of People with Alzheimer's Disease and other Dimentia (CREA) has collaborated in the research.

The article presents the results of a research with a sample of 252 caregivers. It should be noted that this sample includes both family caregivers (132) and professional caregivers (120), mostly women in both cases. The participants completed a survey on the importance they attach to communicating with people with Alzheimer's disease and what they believe are the best strategies for doing so. They also took an auditory test, in which they listened to the same instructions expressed in different ways to assess which was the most appropriate. In this test, they had to score from 1 to 7 different variations of the elements analysed (for example, in the case of tone, they had to evaluate low, medium and high tones).

One of the main results of the survey is that 93.7% of non-professional caregivers, who usually belong to the patient's family environment, need more training in this area. The study also indicates that 90% of caregivers consider that communication plays a key role in caring for people with this dementia and that the way of speaking influences the emotions of these patients. Slightly lower (82-83%) is the percentage of family caregivers who pay attention to the way they speak or perceive that the way they speak can affect the level of care of patients.

In a second study, included in the same research, an experiment was conducted with 60 people, 30 of them in an early stage of Alzheimer's disease and 30 in a control group. In this case, they were given an auditory test, monitoring their physiological reaction to instructions pronounced in different ways. Each patient wore five electrodes on different parts of their body, which allowed recording variations in their heart function, breathing, peripheral nervous system, all while they listened to instructions pronounced in different ways. During this listening process, a facial emotion recognition system was also used.

Both studies form part of the project entitled “Prosody variations for improving the cognitive response and the communicative interaction between Alzheimer patients and their caregivers”, funded by the State R&D&I Programme Oriented to the Challenges of Society (Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities).

Reference article:
Rodero, E., Mas, L., Larrea, O., Rodríguez-de-Dios, I., & de-la-Mota, C. (2023). The Relevance of Communication Between Alzheimer’s Patients and Their Caregivers. Effective Prosody Strategies to Improve Communication. Health Communication, 39(12), 2906–2919.
https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2023.2292830