Moving Beyond Words is a new course that explores how we can use non-verbal communication – especially sounds and movements – to support our relationships and wellbeing.
This course will support carers to identify and try out creative ways to stay connected without relying on speech. This approach will empower a person with dementia to stay connected or reconnect to a social world when they can no longer use words. Family caregivers are encouraged to look for connection rather than meaning.
Moving Beyond Words is delivered as 5 x 2 hour sessions via Zoom and has been designed to follow on from the Empowered Conversations course. The course covers the following:
- An opportunity to reflect on non-verbal communication and consider why it is an invaluable resource for people with severe dementia and their carers
- An opportunity to reflect on the non-verbal skills which we are born with and which we retain throughout our lives.
- Tips on ways to use sound and movement to initiate and sustain connection
- What gets in the way of us being able to use sound and movement fully to stay connected?
- An introduction to the adaptive interaction approach in advanced dementia
- Tips on using songs for instruction
- Kindness to self; exploring ways to meet you own needs using sound, song and movement
- What we have learnt, what we have changed and what we can celebrate