clinical focus
Considered care
and participants are a lot more interested
in what happens next,” Snow says.
Snow spoke with Aged Care Insite about
her unique approach to dementia care and
her path from zoologist to aged care guru.
Former zoologist turned
dementia expert discusses her
positive approach to care.
Teepa Snow interviewed by Conor Burke
A
merican dementia expert Teepa
Snow was in Australia recently
to hold seminars on her ‘Positive
Approach to Care’ training strategy.
The seminars are designed for aged
care professionals and explore a positive
approach to dementia care and the
effective engagement and support of
people living with dementia.
Snow has 40 years’ teaching, academic
and clinical experience, and her strategy is
based on presenting practical approaches
to dementia care.
“If I can get people to recognise, ‘Hey,
that’s just like a client I work with,’ then
what I share has much more immediacy,
28 agedcareinsite.com.au
ACI: Is there anything you’ve noticed
that Australia does well that people in
dementia services in America can learn
from – and vice versa?
TS: Something that really stands out is
that there is a much broader awareness
of dementia in the general population
in Australia. You’ve done a better job of
getting the word out that there is such a
thing called dementia and that it’s affecting
a lot of people, not just old people, but
younger people. In the states, we’re still
struggling with that.
In the states, are you seeing the same
projected numbers of dementia in the
population?
Oh yeah, the old are surviving, so we see
a higher percentage there. And then we’re
seeing more folks starting to show signs in
their 40s, 50s and even up to their 60s and
70s. We’re surviving many other things, but
unfortunately some of that predisposes us
to some forms of dementia. Live longer,
pay a price.
This has brought you to design your
Positive Approach to Care strategy.
What’s the philosophy behind this?
Once someone is identified as living with
dementia, we currently don’t have any way
to get rid of it. We don’t have a way to cure
it, stop it or make it go away in any form
or fashion.
What we can do is figure out how
to provide support and care. This is
a progressive disease. What’s really
important is that things will change
over time and ultimately it will result in
someone’s death. But until they’re dead,
they’re still alive.
The tricky part is learning to live with
the new person who is the old person but
not quite, and that takes skill and practice
because things they used to be able to do,
they may not be able to do.
And other things that they used to be
able to do, but didn’t, now they’re doing.
For instance, using foul language. They
knew the words, but they wouldn’t use the
words in a public setting. But now when
they get frustrated, they might very well
do it, and they might do it at high volume.
They might even do name-calling. They
may never have done that previously,
but they might now. So, what do we do
about that?