“Now I understand you”: Changes in the Communication of Professionals in Nursing Homes After Receiving Training in the Validation Method

Abstract

Caring for older persons is a challenge for professionals who work in nursing homes. Problems in maintaining effective communication with a person with dementia in an effort to understand their needs is a major barrier to good care. Therefore, the main goals of this study were to explore communication barriers between professionals and people with dementia and to observe changes in communication patterns between them after completing Naomi Feil’s introductory training in the bases of the validation method (BVM). The 11 professionals who worked in nursing homes attended a 16-hour introductory course on BVM. Participants were interviewed individually three times. The goal was to observe qualitatively the changes in relationships and communication patterns with people with dementia. The results were analyzed the-matically. The professionals highlighted how, after the training, they had a different understanding of the person with dementia and a more humane perspective. These changes also reflected how the professionals experienced improvements in job satisfaction, secu-rity, and confidence. This study concluded that training nursing home staff in BVM for person-centered and human care has positive implications on how the professionals view their daily work and their way of interacting with older residents.