Carla is a resident with receptive aphasia. She often becomes upset when she doesn't understand your directives during care. How can you best care for her?

Carla is a resident with receptive aphasia. She often becomes upset when she doesn't understand your directives during care. How can you best care for her?

• A. Ask a resident to speak slowly and clearly
• B. Break tasks up into smaller steps
• C. Write your directives on a whiteboard
• D. Ask for an interpreter

Answer: (B)

Understanding how to care for someone with receptive aphasia centers on simplifying communication and reducing cognitive load. Breaking care tasks into small, step-by-step actions makes it easier for Carla to process what you want her to do and minimizes frustration when she doesn’t understand a directive. After each step, pause to confirm she followed or to allow her to signal a need for clarification, then proceed. This pacing also helps you tailor care to her pace and prevent overwhelm during routines. Alternatives like asking her to speak more slowly may help a little but doesn’t address the core difficulty of processing language. Writing directives on a whiteboard can be helpful if she can read, but reading can also be challenging for someone with aphasia, and it’s not as reliably effective as presenting one clear step at a time. Asking for an interpreter helps when there is a language barrier, not when language processing is impaired by aphasia. Overall, breaking tasks into smaller steps provides predictable, manageable communication and supports Carla’s ability to participate in her care.

Understanding how to care for someone with receptive aphasia centers on simplifying communication and reducing cognitive load. Breaking care tasks into small, step-by-step actions makes it easier for Carla to process what you want her to do and minimizes frustration when she doesn’t understand a directive. After each step, pause to confirm she followed or to allow her to signal a need for clarification, then proceed. This pacing also helps you tailor care to her pace and prevent overwhelm during routines. Alternatives like asking her to speak more slowly may help a little but doesn’t address the core difficulty of processing language. Writing directives on a whiteboard can be helpful if she can read, but reading can also be challenging for someone with aphasia, and it’s not as reliably effective as presenting one clear step at a time. Asking for an interpreter helps when there is a language barrier, not when language processing is impaired by aphasia. Overall, breaking tasks into smaller steps provides predictable, manageable communication and supports Carla’s ability to participate in her care.