One of the first blogs I ever wrote on D4Dementia, back in May 2012, was about music for people with dementia. It charted my dad’s love of music, how it became a vital communication tool in the latter years of…
Tag: care at home
Home sweet home
I seem to have found myself quoting a particular statistic so much in the last few weeks that it is now imprinted in my mind: Alzheimer’s Society: Fix Dementia Care Homecare report I include this stat in my dementia training…
The failure of post-diagnosis support
It’s not often that the content of TV programmes stays with me, but the recent BBC ‘Hospital’ series, following the fortunes of patients and staff at Imperial Trust’s hospitals in London, and ‘Granddad, dementia and me’ that I wrote about…
I need you
In my 2013 blog post ‘What is dementia’ I focused on the symptoms of dementia, noting the following amongst my very long list of ways in which a person can be affected by dementia: “An increasing need for reassurance (someone…
When losing, hiding or hoarding items becomes a problem
In May 2013 I wrote a blog post entitled ‘What is dementia?’ about the symptoms of dementia. I wanted to explore the different ways in which a person’s dementia might manifest itself to reinforce the message that dementia isn’t all…
Routine, routine, routine
With a New Year often comes resolutions to change our routines. Things we’ve always done, that perhaps aren’t so good for us, are intended to be banished in favour of routines that are healthier or that we perceive are better…
Is your workforce person-centred?
This morning I spoke at a conference on the importance of knowing the person. My audience was predominately social care providers. My remit was to focus on real lives, drawing on my experiences of care in terms of the importance…
Don’t let the sun go down on me
Of all the words associated with the various symptoms and effects that dementia can have on a person, ‘sundowning’ is one of the most curious. It is a word to describe when a person with dementia becomes more active and/or distressed…
Living with dementia in your own home
Whenever a report on dementia talks about what people with dementia want, enabling the person to remain in their own home for as long as possible usually features pretty highly. A diagnosis of dementia should never mean that you have…
Doll therapy – Disrespectful or comforting?
One of the most controversial non-drug therapies for people with dementia is doll therapy. Before the work I do now, I knew this not as a ‘therapy’ but as the lady in my dad’s care home who occupied the room…