Dementia and sensory loss: Video introduction

In this video we learn about the importance of finding out if a person living with dementia has sight loss, hearing loss or both.  Only when these conditions are managed can carers communicate and support the person to live as well as possible.  A person centred approach can  improve the quality of life and well being for the person living with dementia and sensory loss.  In this film we meet Nansi who has dementia and hearing loss, Jim who has has dementia and sight loss, and Sheila who has dementia and both sight loss and hearing loss. 

Messages for practice

  1. When a person is living with dementia it is important to find out if they have hearing loss, sight loss or both.
  2. Getting to know the person with dementia and sensory loss, their background, their likes and their dislikes and how they prefer to communicate is an important part of providing person centred care.
  3. Supporting an individual with dementia and sensory loss requires patience and understanding.
  4. Any form of sensory loss can make a person with dementia feel isolated; this can have an impact on their emotional well being.
  5. Visit the Dementia and sensory loss section of SCIE's Dementia Gateway for information on supporting someone with dementia and sensory loss
     

Who will find this useful?

Care staff, care managers, social workers, care providers, supervisors, nursing staff, residential care providers,nurses, occupational therapists, trainers, training providers, registered managers, carers, people with dementia, friends and family of people with dementia, housing staff. 

This film was made in partnership and partly funded by Thomas Pocklington Trust, a charity working with people with sight loss.

Downloads

All SCIE resources are free to download, however to access the following downloads you will need a free MySCIE account:

Available downloads:

  • Download video assets including an mp4 version of the video, a PDF transcript and a SRT subtitles file
  • Download video assets including an mp4 version of the video, a PDF transcript and a SRT subtitles file (with audio description and British Sign Language)
  • What the research says: Sensory loss