Touch: a fundamental aspect of communication with older people experiencing dementia.

In nursing, ‘touch may be the most important of all non-verbal behaviours’ (Nesbitt Blondis and Jackson 1982) but Tutton (1998) questions whether nurses actually reflect on their own use of touch and the potential that touch has to contribute to high quality care. Tutton (1998) suggests that touch in nursing is more often associated with procedures, and that this ‘powerful expression’ may be underutilised. For a variety of developmental and environmental reasons, many older people are deprived of touch (Scurfield 1998). This deprivation is exaggerated in the formalised care setting and nurses ought to consider addressing this issue. Scurfield (1998) suggests that nurses should consider how they can use touch as an effective means of communication with the aged, suggesting that touch provides an opportunity to promote the older person’s adaptation to their environment. However, in the reality of institutionalised situations, nursing touch is confined to procedures or tasks. Perrin (1997) noted that time spent on non-task activity with people experiencing dementia was ‘virtually non-existent’. This area is a cause for concern as the need for touch increases with age. As Montague (1978) says: ‘... in old age ... the tactile hunger is more powerful than ever, for it is the only sensuous experience that remains to him. It is at this time, when he has again become so dependent upon others for human support, that he is in need of embraces, of an arm around his shoulder, of being taken by the hand, caressed, and given the opportunity to respond.’