[Palliative care benefits from careful use of words]. / Palliatieve zorg vaart wel bij aandacht voor woorden.

Worldwide, meaning and valence of words are being examined and weighed. This also occurs in healthcare, where campaigns demand attention for the fact that being terminally ill does not mean that there are no treatments left. Such efforts are commendable as there is room for improvement in the communication between healthcare providers and patients and healthcare providers are not equally well equipped to communicate effectively. Still, a US study in palliative surgery suggests that patients do not prefer one particular communication framework over another, tailoring of words seems the way to go. This may be especially beneficial for patients with a limited level of health literacy. Communication tools like the 'teach back' method, e-learnings and language guides can furthermore support healthcare providers in palliative care to continue to choose their words carefully with patients with a limited life expectancy.

Filling in memory gaps through emotional communication; promising pathways in caring for persons with dementia.

OBJECTIVE: To explore in what way emotional communication can enhance the memory of people with (different types of) dementia. METHODS: Relevant studies published after 2000 were searched using the terms: dementia, positive, words, communication, recall, and memory. Papers were included that reported results of studies with people with dementia that investigated memory effects of communication with either an emotionally valent content or context. RESULTS: Twelve papers grouped under four prevailing themes (pictures, facial emotions, stories and words) are described. The studies provide mixed results: in some studies negative emotional information enhances memory in older people with dementia, in other studies positive emotional information is helpful or hardly any effect is found. CONCLUSION: Emotional communication seems to enhance memory in people with dementia. None of the studies described focused on the association between personally relevant, emotionally valent information and memory, so further research is needed. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Caregivers in dementia care should realize that 1) the information they provide might carry an emotional valence, and 2) this valence might influence the extent to which people with dementia remember information.