Evaluating the VERA framework for communication.

This article describes an evaluation of the use of the VERA (validation, emotion, reassurance, activity) framework for communication in a practice development unit at North Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust. Staff of two older-adult inpatient wards in the Crystal Centre received training on the VERA framework and applied it to their practice. They found the VERA framework to be practical and user friendly, and to result in compassionate communication.

VERA framework: communicating with people who have dementia.

This article presents a communication framework, devised by the authors, that could be used by healthcare professionals who come into contact with people who have dementia. The framework is based on four key concepts: validation, emotion, reassure and activity (VERA). It describes a stage-by-stage process of communication that guides nurses towards providing compassionate and caring responses.