All About Validation

Validation is a method for communicating with respect and empathy with older adults with Alzheimer's disease or other dementias who are in the final stage of their lives.

Validation promotes older people's remaining communication skills and improves their interactions with others.

The Validation method results in more satisfying relationships between people with dementia and their caregivers and family members.

Validation reduces caregiver frustration and burn-out, as well as the need for physical restraints or drug interventions to manage challenging behaviors in people with dementia.

The Validation method involves specific verbal and nonverbal techniques to use with people with dementia depending on their phase in the final stage of life. These include open questioning, rephrasing, mirroring, and consistent eye contact.

Validation techniques can be easily learned by any family member or caregiver--wives, husbands, daughters, daughters-in-law, sons, sons-in-law, grandchildren, sisters, brothers, neighbors, or friends.

Validation techniques are beneficial for all older adults with dementia whether they are living at home, residing in a long-term care facility, or receiving care in the hospital.

The Principles of Validation

• All people are valuable, including those who are disoriented.
• Disoriented older people should be accepted as they are.
• There is a reason behind the behavior of very old people.
• Very old disoriented people are in the final life stage: resolution.
• When recent memory fails, older adults try to restore balance to their lives by retrieving earlier memories.
• When eyesight fails, older adults use the mind's eye to see; when hearing goes, they listen to sounds from the past.
• People live on several levels of awareness, often at the same time.
• When present reality becomes painful, some older adults survive by retreating and stimulating memories of the past.
• Feelings experienced in the present can trigger memories of having felt similarly in the past.
• Painful feelings that are expressed, acknowledged, and validated by a trusted listener will diminish; painful feelings that are ignored or suppressed will gain in strength.
• Listening with empathy builds trust, reduces anxiety, and restores dignity.