Great communication support can help people living with dementia mate wareware to maintain their sense of self, their relationships, and their quality of life. Communication is caring – we aren’t just chatting. We are acknowledging each other as people. Our supportive communication skills can help improve the quality of our relationships, understanding, and moments of joy with the people we support.
It’s essential to help someone living with dementia mate wareware to get all the support that they need to make their own decisions and to protect their rights if they are being assessed for mental capacity. This July 2024 online Network hui provided an opportunity to learn more about using supported decision-making to help someone living with dementia mate wareware to make their own decisions and have control over the things that impact and are vital to them and how decision-making capacity is currently assessed in a legal sense.
The MANA was developed in research led by Māori for Māori. Over 400 kaumātua contributed to the development of the MANA suite, and the cognitive assessment tool was validated on 92 Māori.
The MANA is not simply a cognitive screening measure but a whole toolkit for a comprehensive assessment sensitive to Māori cultural needs. It is a kaupapa Māori guide for how health professionals, whether they are Māori or tau iwi (non-Māori), can better engage in the process of assessment and support planning for a Māori person and their whānau who may be living with mate wareware.