Title: Reflecting on the therapeutic value of telling lies to patients with Dementia.

Abstract:

Wholetruth, untruths and lies was an ethnographic study of communication between professional caregivers and people with dementia, which lead to the development of a Taxonomy of Lies and the Lie ARM (Affective Reflective Model). The aim of the two tools, is to help people reflect on their communication practices and consider if the lies that they tell are therapeutic. The Taxonomy helps people to think about specific elements of their communication in an objective way. The Lie ARM then prompts them to think about how the communication was made; was it genuine? What was the motivation? Did it validate the patients’ emotions? It is the affective domains that have ultimately been shown to have the biggest impact on the receiver, that is, the person with dementia. Motivation and genuineness are key elements in validating a person’s emotions and delivering a therapeutic interaction.

This presentation will discuss the key themes in the Taxonomy of Lies and demonstrate how the Lie ARM can be used to develop practice by meeting the needs of people with dementia in a kinder, more person-centred way.

Biography:

Dr Jane Murray is an Assistant Professor at Northumbria University. She has been a Mental Health Nurse for almost 30 years, specialising in the care of older persons, particularly those with dementia. She has an extensive teaching record both nationally and internationally. Dr Murray is currently leading a preregistration nursing programme at the Shanghai University of Traditional Medicine and a Bachelor of Science Nursing programme at Kaplan in Singapore. She has been an academic since 2008, teaching across undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, as well as supervising PhD students.  Dr Murray holds an MSc in Professional and Academic Learning and a Doctor of Philosophy from Northumbria University. Her Doctorate focussed on how professional caregivers communicate with people with dementia and is entitled Wholetruth, Untruth and Lies; an ethnographic study of communicative interactions between professional care givers and people with dementia.  Additionally, she is a registered teacher and has specialist practitioner status (older persons mental health) from the Nursing and Midwifery Council. Dr Murray is a Fellow of the Higher education Academy and has been appointed to the Royal College of Nursing Older Peoples steering committee.

As well as her international leadership roles, Dr Murray has taught extensively into Malaysia, Borneo and China. This teaching has focused on care of the older person as well as healthcare law and ethics which is also part of her special interest in relation to older people.
Her current research is focussed on issues relating to people with dementia and their families and includes the use of continuous glucose monitoring for people with diabetes and dementia, truth and lie telling to people with dementia and the use of musical instruments to frame oral histories of adults living in 24 hour care environments. Dr Murray is passionate about improving care for older people both nationally and internationally and regularly speaks on these topics.