According to one of Care UK’s excellent booklets, Listen, talk, connect: Communicating with people living with dementia, the single most important piece of information to bear in mind when talking to a person with dementia is that their perception of reality is the only one that counts.

In a nutshell, that means not correcting someone when you know they are wrong, as contradicting or arguing with their statement may well cause distress or anger.

The booklet explains how someone with dementia will see things differently for a whole host of reasons: impaired vision, hallucinations and hearing problems, to name a few. 

Imagine you believe a wall is black but everyone around you is saying it is white. You would be terrified, assuming there was some conspiracy. So if they are distressed, ask if what they are seeing bothers them, if they want to move position, if having some music on would soothe them, for example.

Another way of dealing with a difficult situation is to use what is known as the validation technique.