Who Answers the Question? Small Moments and Big Messages in Dementia Care
Parallel 5
18 November, 2026 2:10 – 3:20 pmMini Presentations: Group 2
Lynne Hagan
Diagnosed with Dementia
Retired from my own business: TrainlyAbility
Summary
This presentation explores how small, everyday communication patterns can influence whose voice is heard in dementia care and wider professional interactions.
Drawing on lived experience and a background in general and psychiatric nursing, including serving as a ward sister in a psychiatric hospital, plus many years designing and delivering education and training for healthcare professionals, focused on disease awareness and treatment education, this session examines brief moments within conversation where attention shifts and the person diagnosed with dementia may be unintentionally displaced from the centre of the exchange.
‘Noticing’ in this context refers to a brief moment of awareness within conversation: recognising how conversational space is shared, redirected, or taken up by others, and how easily this can alter whose voice becomes most prominent.
Rather than framing these moments as poor practice, the presentation explores them as relational dynamics shaped by kindness, protectiveness, uncertainty, habit and professional time pressures alongside information gathering demands.
The session concludes with three reflective questions for practice.