The Validation® is a method to improve care for elderly people with disorientation problems. Knowledge of the validating approach allows operators to recognize and respect the feelings of the disoriented elderly person and to empathize with their reality. By listening carefully, using verbal and non-verbal techniques, eye contact and touch, the Validation® operator builds a relationship of trust with the disoriented patient, opening a new channel of communication. At the end of the course the student will be able to demonstrate the following skills:


KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING:
- know the basic aspects of the validating attitude
- know the main characteristics of the 4 phases of disorientation according to Naomi Feil

APPLIED KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING:
- know how to recognize and share the emotions and needs expressed
- acquire some validating approach methods

JUDGMENT AUTONOMY:
- recognize non-validating approaches and identify the most suitable method to establish a relationship of trust with the elderly

COMMUNICATION SKILLS:
- know some verbal and non-verbal techniques suitable for the relationship with disoriented elderly people
- reflect on one's own empathic communication skills

LEARNING SKILLS
- develop a more specific knowledge on the disorientation of the elderly and its characteristics
- know how to reflect on one's own growth process

No specific prerequisites are necessary to follow the course.

The Validation® method, created in the 1960s and 1970s by gerontologist Naomi Feil, is a communication method to improve relationships with elderly people with disorientation problems. It is a relational approach that helps to better understand the behaviors of the elderly and is based on a validating attitude, which starts from the assumption that what the elderly experiences within themselves must be accepted, shared and recognized. Particular emphasis is placed on the empathetic communication of needs and emotions and on the methods of their expression, with examples of real and concrete situations.
The course aims to introduce students to this method of communication, with interactive lessons, where much importance will be given to exercises and role-playing games, to understand and integrate the knowledge learned and know how to put it into practice in real situations.

- lesson’s slides
- Naomi Feil, 2013, Validation: Il metodo Feil – Per comprendere ciò che i grandi anziani hanno nella mente e nel cuore, Minerva Edizioni, Bologna 2013
- Vicki de Klerk Rubin, 2015, Il metodo Validation. Costruire relazioni serene con la persona con demenza, Erikson

First lesson
- Mutual knowledge
-Naomi feil and the development of the Validation method
- The aspects of the validating attitude: respect, human warmth, calibration, authenticity, empathy
-Exercises to experience empathy, what is not empathy


Second lesson
- Some principles of the Validation Method with group exercises
- Universal human needs
- Emotions: exercises to recognize and calibrate them
- The causes of disorientation


Third lesson
- Erik Erikson's theory and the stages of life
- The 4 stages of disorientation according to Validation method, characteristics and possible approaches
- Examples of verbal and non-verbal techniques
- Video viewing
- Feedback about the course

- Interactive lectures using Power Point slides
- Group or pair exercises
- Demonstrations or role-plays
- Video viewing

The power point presentations relating to the teaching units are available on the Microsoft Teams platforms

Written test consisting of 18 multiple choice questions on the topics covered during the course and one open-ended question. Each multiple choice question is worth 1.5 points, while the open-ended question is worth a maximum of 5 points. The evaluation will be: Approved or Not Approved. The exam is considered Approved if the student has achieved a score ≥ 22 points

Goal 3: health and well-being