Communication Support in Health and Social Care: How Talking Mats Supports Person-Led Practice

Talking Mats is widely used across a range of Health and Social Care settings to support person-led planning and practice.

It supports adults and children with communication difficulties, including people with learning disabilities, dementia, mental health issues and acquired neurological conditions.

What Are Communication Tools in Health and Social Care?

Communication tools in health and social care are used for a variety of purposes including to coordinate care plans and ensure people understand their treatment. They are often used with people who face cognitive, physical, or sensory barriers, including those with learning disabilities, stroke survivors, those with mental health difficulties, and people with acquired brain injuries.

For example, a stroke survivor who has no verbal speech may understand their options but struggle to express their preferences verbally. Communication tools offer an alternative method of communication.

Why Communication Support Matters in Health and Social Care Settings

Communication support isn’t optional; it’s something that is essential. Legislative and policy frameworks in the UK (including the Mental Capacity Act, Care Act, Accessible Information Standard, and NICE guidelines) emphasise the need to take an individual’s wishes into account at all levels of decision-making about their lives. It also highlights the requirement that appropriate communication support should be offered to enable that to happen.

When communication support isn’t provided, people may:

Struggle to understand information
Feel overwhelmed or excluded from conversations
Agree to decisions without fully understanding their options
Find it difficult to express concerns, preferences, or emotions
Become less engaged with care and support processes
Experience increased anxiety, frustration, or distress

For health and social care professionals, providing communication support isn’t just about improving conversations; it’s about protecting rights, improving outcomes, and supporting inclusion, which is what Talking Mats strives towards.

How Talking Mats Works as a Communication Tool

Talking Mats is a structured communication approach that is designed to help people with communication needs think about and express their views and preferences. This visual communication tool is used by health and social care providers across the UK to reduce communication barriers and support participation in discussions about the person’s care and support.

Talking Mats can:

Help a person’s understanding, reflection and expression
Provide a framework that supports decision-making
Support capacity assessments
Support safeguarding
Support discharge planning and ongoing self- management of care needs
Support practitioners to adapt their communication style and practice

The Talking Mats framework allows people to explore topics visually by placing symbols On a scale and using the Talking Mats process to scaffold what is being said, making conversations easier to manage. It supports communication in a structured, accessible, and collaborative way and can be accessed physically or digitally.

For example:

A topic of conversations is agreed on and symbol options within that topic are then presented to the person who places them on the scale to reflect what they think.

Who Can Benefit from Talking Mats in Health and Social Care?

Learning Disabled People

People with learning disabilities may experience difficulties in processing complex verbal information. This can affect participation in assessments, care planning, safeguarding discussions, and everyday decision-making. Talking Mats creates an accessible environment for structured conversations.

People Living with Dementia

People with dementia often experience memory difficulties and language-processing challenges or anxiety during complex conversations, which can make discussions feel overwhelming. Talking Mats creates a more manageable and structured conversation to reduce pressure.

Stroke Survivors and People with Acquired Brain Injury

Communication problems are very common following a stroke or brain injury. These can include; aphasia, communication fatigue, and reduced processing speed. Talking Mats reduces the reliance on verbal communication to help support conversations.

People with Mental Health Conditions

Anxiety, distress, depression, psychosis, and trauma may make it difficult for someone to process information or express their feelings. The Talking Mats framework provides a structured way to communicate.

Children and Young People in Health and Care Settings

Children and young people often find it hard to understand and explain emotions, preferences, or worries. Visual communication tools can help young people engage more confidently in conversations about their health and wellbeing.

Where is Talking Mats Used in Health and Social Care?

Talking Mats is used across a wide range of health and social care settings to support accessible, flexible communication.

Hospital and acute settings – Talking Mats can support communication during assessments, treatments, or rehabilitation.
Care homes and residential settings – care homes support individuals with complex communication needs through Talking Mats during care reviews, wellbeing conversations, and activity planning.
Community health and social care teams – community-based teams use Talking Mats across adult social care, occupational therapy, reablement, and community nursing.
Mental health services – Talking Mats offers a collaborative alternative to conversation to reduce the pressure of open-ended verbal discussions.
Palliative and end-of-life care – sensitive communication is especially important in palliative care to support conversations about priorities, wishes, comfort, and quality of life.

What Can Talking Mats Help With?

The Talking Mats framework supports a wide range of conversations and decision-making processes in health and social care by helping practitioners create a calmer, more structured, and accessible environment for people with communication difficulties.

In practice, Talking Mats can help with:

Capacity assessments by supporting a clearer understanding, communication, and expression of choices
Care planning conversations by helping people to identify and prioritise what matters most to them
Safeguarding discussions by providing a structured and less pressured way to express concerns or experiences
Discharge planning by supporting conversations about needs, risks, routines, and support at home or in the community
Wellbeing reviews by enabling reflection on quality of life, daily experiences, and support needs
Self-management of health conditions by supporting discussion of symptoms, routines, medication, and personal goals
Advance care planning and thinking ahead by helping people communicate preferences and wishes for future care in a more accessible way

Why Choose Talking Mats as a Communication Aid in Health and Social Care?

Health and social care professionals require alternative communication approaches that are evidence-based, practical, and suitable for real-world scenarios. Talking Mats combines a structured framework with training for a ready-to-use communication resource.

Developed and Tested Through Rigorous Research

Talking Mats was developed at the University of Stirling and has been independently researched and evaluated across a range of settings and conditions. The evidence base includes work across:

Dementia care
Learning disabilities
Stroke and aphasia
Acquired brain injury
Mental health
Older adult care
Person-led planning

Ready-Made Resources for Health and Social Care Conversations

Talking Mats isn’t just a methodology; it’s a way for practitioners to get practical, ready-to-use resources designed for topics that will come up in health and social care. With resources available in both physical and digital formats, they can be used in a range of environments.

Accessible Training for the Whole Health and Social Care Workforce

To use Talking Mats requires Foundation Training, which is designed for all health and social care practitioners, including nurses, social workers, OTs, support workers, and care coordinators. Training is available online and in-person, helping organisations access flexible learning opportunities.

Frequently asked questions

Is Talking Mats suitable for people with dementia?

Yes. Talking Mats is widely used in dementia care to support more accessible and person-led conversations.

The structured visual framework can help reduce communication pressure, support reflection, and make it easier for people living with dementia to express preferences, feelings, and experiences during conversations about care, wellbeing, and daily life.

Can non-speech and language therapists use Talking Mats?

Yes. Talking Mats is designed for use across the wider health and social care workforce following Foundation Training.

Is Talking Mats available digitally?

Yes. Digital Talking Mats allows practitioners to use the approach remotely or within hybrid care settings.

What training do I need to use Talking Mats?

Practitioners need to complete Foundation Training before using Talking Mats in practice.

The training introduces the Talking Mats process, values, structured communication techniques, and practical approaches for supporting accessible conversations across health and social care settings.

Talking Mats Resources that can support your conversations:

We recommend that professionals using our resources complete the Talking Mats Foundation training course.

Find out how to access our Foundation training course here.