At Thomson Snell & Passmore we believe firmly in the importance of being an active member of our local dementia friendly community. An important element of this, for us, has involved our firm working towards becoming a recognised dementia friendly organisation.
The term “dementia” describes a set of symptoms that may include memory loss as well as difficulties with thinking, problem-solving and language. Alterations in someone’s mood or behaviour, or the way in which they perceive things, can also be symptoms. There are many types of dementia but Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form, followed by vascular dementia. Dementia is a progressive disease; symptoms may present mildly at first but become more serious over time. It can affect the elderly but not exclusively so - younger people can also face its difficulties and the Alzheimer’s Society confirms that in the UK over 40,000 people under the age of 65 have dementia.
As a firm we strive to ensure that any of our clients who may be living with dementia, or caring for someone living with the condition, can feel confident, safe and valued when they attend our offices or communicate with our staff. We endeavour to fulfil this aim in various ways.
Clear language and support with communication
We share information with our clients using clear language, ensuring that we remove the jargon. We make sure that those coming to us for advice are provided with all of the necessary detail and made aware of the alternative options so that, where they are able to make their own choices, they can make their own informed decisions.
Where there is a lot of information to take in, there might be the risk of our client perhaps feeling overwhelmed or confused. Advice can be broken down and given in stages, and it might be helpful for us to organise several shorter meetings, rather than one longer one, to deliver advice and take our client’s instructions in a measured, comfortable way. Some of our clients might struggle with their sight and we can make sure our correspondence is written with larger font size, documentation is provided in braille, the colour scheme is altered to help with readability or correspondence is sent electronically so that it can perhaps be read by a smartphone or laptop.
If clients face some difficulties with their speech they might find a picture board or use of diagrams and symbols helpful to communicate. If others have hearing issues and are familiar with sign language, we can arrange for a British Sign Language interpreter to attend the meeting, make a hearing loop available and/or set up the meeting so that our client can make use of lip reading if they wish.
Meeting arrangements and making our client feel at ease
We’re mindful that some of clients might feel more comfortable meeting at their home rather than making the journey to see us at our offices and we’re more than happy to arrange a meeting on that basis where it’s appropriate to do so. Others might prefer to see us at our offices and we have easily accessible meeting rooms where parking is readily available.
There might be particular times of day when someone feels better able to consider issues and have discussions, perhaps as a result of when medication is taken or if, for example, they tend to tire in the morning or afternoon. We can arrange our meetings flexibly around those preferences. Someone might also find the prospect of meeting with their solicitor or going about addressing legal issues somewhat daunting; they might be reassured to have someone whom they trust attend with them as a support, and we very much understand that. In that situation we would support someone attending as a companion while also explaining to our client that we must, at some stage in the meeting, chat with them alone to verify their instructions and fulfil our responsibilities to them.
Sensitivity
Our staff, from our reception and administration team through to our lawyers, appreciate that our clients might be experiencing some degree of physical or cognitive limitations which are very personal to them. We endeavour to communicate with our clients with tact and sensitivity. We encourage openness, posing questions, and allowing time for the processing of information and checking our client’s understanding.
What sets many of our team apart is their ability to share their expertise with compassion and patience, and we consider all of these skills important in the building of trust with our clients, so that they feel comfortable and heard, and receive all the advice that they require to go that one step further to making living well with dementia very much a reality.
