Anaylysing real-life usage information of actual patients

Three key themes emerged from the data.

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1. MIRRORING

First, healthcare professionals weren't the only people using these terms. Terms of endearment were used responsively - so both patients with dementia and staff used them, reflecting or mirroring each other's language.

This resulted in positive interactions. For example, a patient saying “OK duck” when a doctor asked them if they could sit the hospital bed up higher, and the doctor responding with “all right mate”.

These examples shows that terms of endearment can be helpful for building rapport and trust between staff and patients.

2. SIGNPOSTING

Second, terms of endearment were used at the beginning and end of conversations between staff and patients. In this case, terms of endearment were helpful for signposting and giving information about context to patients.

Previous work has shown that people living with dementia can struggle with recognising cues in conversation. So, a term of endearment could help to signal that a conversation is coming to an end, such as a nurse saying: "Alright darling, it's lovely to speak to you."