Communication Between Huntington’s Disease Patients, Their Support Persons and the Dental Hygienist Using Talking Mats

Communication is at the heart of any health care situation and individuals, who have difficulties describing their problems and expressing their needs, are in danger of being misunderstood or mistreated (Bartlett et al., 2008). Persons with Huntington’s Disease (HD) have cognitive, emotional and motor problems which affect their communication and they frequently need support to be able to communicate in their daily life in general and in health care situations in particular. This chapter describes an effort to enhance communicative effectiveness in a dental and oral health care situation using Talking Mats. Eleven individuals, their support persons and a dental hygienist volunteered to help in exploring the use of this method in a clinical situation.

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