Behavior

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Behavior as communication

As human beings, we communicate using many skills. Communication occurs with verbally with oral language, with signs and hand gestures, with expressions, and with behaviors.

Verbal Skills include the use of oral language. Though oral language may be in different languages: French, English, Spanish, along with the use of inflexions, tones, and hand gestures that further clarify the meaning of what is being spoken.

Non verbal communication in the form of expressions and postures are used by all human beings. Some non-verbal communication is certainly is specific to specific cultures but studies do show that some non-verbal communication is universal. Charles Darwin who identified thirteen emotions that could be tied to universal expressions first noted universal communication via expressions in 1872. Darwin authored The Expressions of the Emotions in Man and Animals.

Paul Ekman later pared these emotions down to six in 1972. Happiness, Sadness, Fear, Surprise, Disgust and anger are the emotions identified by Ekman.

Being able to understand what is being communicated is described as decoding. Caregivers spend a lot of time trying to decode expressions of loved ones; especially those challenged with dementia.

Communication skills change as we get older. This becomes clearer as we review our own life or those that we know and outline communication skills during different periods of development.

Hunger Pain Happiness Grief Fatigue Cold/Heat

6 months	Cry, Fuss, Wiggle about, flailing of arms	Cry, Fuss, Wiggle about, flailing of arms	Smiles, Flailing of arms, Giggles	Not known	Rubbing eyes, crying, fussing, scream	Shivering, sweating, crying, fussing
2 years	May state they are hungry, cry, fuss	Cry fuss, may be able to tell you where they hurt. Holding hurt area	Peals of laughter, smiles, giggles,	Crying, not able to verbalize	Rubbing eyes, crying, may go to bed, may get comfort pillow, toys, or bottle	Shivering, get blanket, take clothes off,
6 years	Angry, ask to eat, cry, go to get something to eat, fuss	Hold are, let someone know they are hurt, cry, try to fix it	Laughter, running about,
Teenager
young adult
Fifties
elder
elder with dementia

Incorporating Maslow’s hierarchy of need into communication assists us in understanding the “Why” of communication. Because adults with dementia remain complicated human beings until little memory is left, because adults with dementia continue with a sense of adulthood through a large part of their disease process, their perception of a situation will is different than that of a child. Because their perception is different, they may react differently than a child.