Quilting narrative: using repetition techniques to help elderly communicators.

As we gain a better understanding of narratives presented by both normally aging adults and those with cognitive deficits, we are able to communicate more effectively. We can select more interactive ways to help construct meaning with individuals who appear to have lost the ability to communicate. We can listen for formulaic expressions or colloquial speech, furnish beginnings, echo details, add to endings. We can recall what we were told in an earlier conversation and reintroduce the topic so that the speaker with Alzheimer disease (AD) can recognize information and expand it instead of being asked to recall it. By using the repetition technique of quilting narrative, nurses can help family members see that the person with AD is trying to signal some part of a life event, which helps convey to others who he or she is.