Dr. Brian Goldman, the Power of Kindness and the use of validation to help those with dementia

Last night Dr. Brian Goldman was at the Rady Centre in Winnipeg to talk about his new book The Power of Kindness. The book explores the nature of empathy - the ability to sense, feel and understand the emotions of others and to respond to them. The book devotes one chapter to exploring an approach to individuals with dementia called validation. Dr. Goldman visits Country Meadows in Leader Heights in south-central Pennsylvania. The centre uses the "validation" approach to communicating with those with dementia. It was developed by Naomi Feil and has been shown to be a way to communicate with those with dementia - to help them - and to enable them to be calm instead of agitated. To better understand how it works you will need to read the book. As Dr. Goldman says "Kindness does not cost anything, but it means everything."

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The Gerrard Report

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