Caregiver Communication: Talking About Dementia With Patients and Families

Presented by Joy Goldsmith and Elaine Wittenberg

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Video Runtime: 19 Minutes; Learning Assessment Time: 4 Minutes

This series guides healthcare providers and professionals in home health, hospice, and palliative care, as well as those working with chronic and complex illnesses, to communicate more effectively with team members and coworkers. Our courses will help you develop communication and trust-building skills for the healthcare setting, helping fill practice gaps that are common causes of burnout, absenteeism, and moral distress.

Learning Objectives

Determine the purpose of the communication opening
Apply the QMS (Question, Mirror, State) communication tool
Examine common communication topics related to dementia care learning

Meet your instructors

Smiling woman with gray shoulder-length hair in a dark pink shirt stands against white, representing confidence in hybrid care solutions.

Joy Goldsmith

Joy Goldsmith, PhD, conducts research about health communication science in the context of healthcare provider training and serious and chronic illness. CommunicateComfort.com, a longtime initiative of Dr. Goldsmith, offers a range of research interventions and education/training curricula for healthcare providers. Storyboard…

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A smiling woman with curly gray hair and an orange top stands against a white background, embodying medbridge's approachability.

Elaine Wittenberg

Elaine Wittenberg holds a PhD in communication from the University of Oklahoma and has authored more than 150 peer-reviewed articles on hospice and palliative care communication. She is coauthor of seven books pertaining to palliative care, family communication, and nursing, three of which have been awarded Book of the Year…

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Chapters & learning objectives

1. Talking About Dementia With Patients and Families

First, we consider an indirect communication strategy known as “openings” to facilitate a discussion about dementia. Second, we review a communication tool called QMS (Question, Mirror, State) to facilitate openings. Third, we explore three very common subject areas for opening conversations about dementia: patient safety, observable changes in cognition, and caregiver capacity.