Supermarket in Limburg shows how not to deal with someone with dementia: ‘Just think along, don’t correct’

A woman with dementia in Sittard has been banned from shopping for 2 years because she would have forgotten to pay. “And that is the example of something we are trying to prevent”, says Julie Meerveld of Alzheimer Nederland.

Coffee, potatoes, cauliflower and endive. The eighty-year-old woman suffering from dementia ‘forgot’ to settle these messages at Lidl last Sunday, wrote The Limburger.

Dementia friendly society

There are 280,000 people with dementia in the Netherlands, says advocacy and regional aid manager Julie Meerveld. “Almost everyone knows someone in their environment with the disease.” You also meet people with dementia everywhere in society, in places where everyone goes. “That is why we continue to draw attention to this topic. We have already achieved a lot but we are never finished.”

“It is nice if we all contribute to a dementia-friendly society, by knowing how to deal with those people.” In this way we make it easier for the families of people with dementia, who then need to worry less. “But especially for the people themselves.”

Breaking the taboo

To break the taboo on dementia, Alzheimer Nederland started offering training at the end of 2016. The starting point for these training courses is to learn how to see who might have dementia and how to deal with it.

Because we often feel too clumsy to approach someone who is confused, Meerveld explains. “With our training courses we tell you how you can approach someone with dementia with confidence.” And the training courses work, says Meerveld. “We hear from many people that they now feel more secure in dealing with people with dementia and that they are more daring.”

Do RIGHT

How do you do that? One of the lessons that is covered in the free training is that of ‘doing RIGHT’. “A simple mnemonic that makes a lot of difference”, says Meerveld. The G stands for reassurance, that is step 1. Then the O comes from making eye contact, so make sure someone realizes that you are making contact.

Then comes’ think along ‘, the E. So don’t correct, get angry because someone forgets to pay, or patronize someone, but calmly look for a solution. So say,’ Oh, I see you haven’t paid yet. are we going to do that? ‘. ” It is important to keep control with the other. “So just ask, ‘Can I help?’ And then just wait for the answer.” And finally comes ‘thanking’, Meerveld explains that it is important to conclude positively at all times.

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