Dementia care pioneer Teepa Snow has developed a simple technique that anyone (i.e you and me) can easily learn and use to help connect with as well as comfort a person with dementia.
Using the technique, which Snow calls “Hand Under Hand™,” can also help dementia care partners “take control” of situations before they get out of hand. (Pun intended!)
It’s also important and helpful to position yourself below the eye level of the person with dementia. If you do only these two simple things (get down and use Hand Under Hand™), life will be much easier on everyone. Guaranteed.
Remember: the purpose is to control the situation, not the person. Dementia care partners are in the process together: always do whatever you can to respect the independence, rights and dignity of the person with dementia.
In the video below, Snow demonstrates how to used Hand Under Hand™ as part of the process of helping someone to bathe.
But Hand Under Hand™ can be used in multiple ways: to help someone to eat, to walk, or even to calm down in a crisis.
I learned this technique in early 2015 when I began the process of becoming a PAC Certified Trainer. I know it works because I use it myself. I only wish it had been part of my tool kit from the start. I chose not to recertify with PAC in 2016, but I’m still a huge Teepa fan and embrace all of her techniques.
Related links:
More Teepa Snow on MyAlzheimersStory
10+ Teepa Snow videos on the basics of dementia care
Teepa Snow’s videos are available on Amazon here.
#mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; }
/* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block.
We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */
Subscribe to MAS now & get 5 free PDFs & a page of welcome links:
//s3.amazonaws.com/downloads.mailchimp.com/js/mc-validate.js(function($) {window.fnames = new Array(); window.ftypes = new Array();fnames[0]=’EMAIL’;ftypes[0]=’email’;fnames[1]=’FNAME’;ftypes[1]=’text’;fnames[2]=’LNAME’;ftypes[2]=’text’;}(jQuery));var $mcj = jQuery.noConflict(true);
My Alzheimer's Story 
Teepa Snow is absolutely fantastic. Thanks for helping me on this journey. In your spare time, check out my book Mashed Potatoes in My Salad: An Alzheimer’s Caregiver Memoir. It’s good to know this battle has many advocates. You are amazing.
LikeLike
Thanks Eunice. And yes, more and more advocates are making their voices heard. We really need to change the way people perceive this disease and the people who have it, not to mention the way they are treated.
LikeLike
Teepa Snow is fantastic. I’ve shared this everywhere and pinned it as well.
LikeLike
Thanks Rena – I really appreciate your support. I have another Teepa post coming up next week that will be super helpful for many care partners. Her principles are simple, and yet they can really work magic. Anyone can implement what she teaches. I wish I had found her years ago. On the plus side, I can use my more difficult experiences to be more empathetic with others who are going through the same thing, and hopefully help them to have an easier time of it. That’s the plan anyway.
I know you’re doing the same thing with your blog http://www.thediaryofanalzheimerscaregiver.com/
Thanks again for your support and I’m so grateful that Mike Good of http://togetherinthis.com/ introduced us.
More voices for positive change will mean a brighter future for people with dementia ❤
LikeLike