Communication and Dementia: Staff Perceptions of Conversational Strategies Marie Y. Savundranayagam, PhD Ellen B. Ryan, PhD Ann P. Anas, BSc J. B. Orange, PhD ABSTRACT. This study examined the impact of two communication- enhancing strategies used on people with dementia. The strategies were manipulated using scripted staff-resident conversations that were evalu- ated by 71 long-term care staff participants. We hypothesized that vocal and nonverbal characteristics, along with their communication behaviors would be perceived more positively when staff members used personhood strategies compared to when they used directive language. We exam- ined whether perceptions of the resident depicted identically in the scripts Marie Y. Savundranayagam is Assistant Professor, Helen Bader School of Social Welfare, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI. Ellen B. Ryan (E-mail: ryaneb@mcmaster.ca) is Professor and Ann P. Anas (E-mail: anasa@mcmaster.ca) is Research Co-ordinator; both at McMaster Centre for Geronto- logical Studies, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8S 4M4. J. B. Orange is Associate Professor, School of Communication Sciences and Disor- ders, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada N6G 1H1. Address correspondence to: Marie Y. Savundranayagam, Helen Bader School of Social Welfare, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 1059 Enderis Hall, PO Box 786, Milwaukee, WI 53201 (E-mail: maries@uwm.edu). This research was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Strate- gic Training Grant on Communication and Social Interaction in Healthy Aging, the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and a University of Western Ontario Faculty of Health Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellowship. The participation of staff respondents from the long-term care facilities is gratefully ac- knowledged. Clinical Gerontologist, Vol. 31(2) 2007 Available online at http://cg.haworthpress.com  2007 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1300/J018v31n02_04 47