Communicating with the Alzheimer's resident: Perceptions of care providersin a residential facility

optimal quality of care for long term residents, especially those suffering from Alzheimer's disease (AD), has been linked to meaningful and rewarding communication with staff caregivers. However, the precise methods of effec tive, supportive communication used by care providers of persons with AD ha ve not been identified, The purpose of this exploratory study was to invest igate caregivers' perceptions of communication used in dementia-specific co mmunity residential facilities. Eight care providers were interviewed and a sked a series of in-depth, semistructured questions regarding their communi cation experiences with AD residents. Employing features of grounded theory methodology, all interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. The transcripts were coded using an open-coding technique followed by selec tive coding processes. Results merged into two core categories: (1) Complia nce Gaining Strategies and (2) Learning the Language. Results indicated tha t care providers used several communication strategies that are advocated i n the literature, but that they also employed creative techniques that have not been previously emphasized. While interesting, these strategics have y et to be validated. As such discussion points focus on future research need ed to verify these communication tactics.