Last year I wrote a popular blog post entitled ‘Five things I wish I’d known before my dad’s dementia’. Point two was entitled ‘What to do for the best’ and said: “The great problem when my dad was living with…
Tag: individuality
Delivering a dementia diagnosis
There are many times in a person’s life with dementia that are described as pivotal. Often these are the difficult, crisis occasions that create the negative narrative that is so commonly associated with dementia. But after my recent personal experiences…
When behaviour changes…
Last week I began a series of roundtable sessions with the staff of one of my social care consultancy clients looking at changed behaviour for people who are living with dementia. The topics for discussion are pretty diverse, everything from…
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…
How dementia and personality interact
We talk A LOT in dementia care about how dementia changes a person. Often it’s distilled down into very negative language, and bracketed as ‘challenging behaviour’ (a phrase I dislike immensely). Yet, the spectrum of change is immense, very personal…
Harnessing the power of observation
I feel very strongly that one of the most important attributes anyone providing care and support to a person with dementia can have is the ability to observe. In our helter-skelter, multi-tasking lives it’s easy to lose the quietly reflective…
The ‘stages’ of dementia
I had a very refreshing conversation recently with someone running a care company about the ‘stages’ of dementia. In this person’s view, the way in which the medical model defines dementia by different stages isn’t helpful for a more human…
Terms of endearment – The ‘darling’ debate
A couple of months ago the Care Quality Commission (CQC) released a report detailing an inspection of a care home in Harrogate where the language used by staff when communicating with residents came under the spotlight. Care home staff had…
A helping hand
When a loved one is living with dementia, it is inevitable that a time will come when they will need additional help and support. A person with dementia may be very resistant to any intervention from any individual, and who…
Lessons from my virtual world
Earlier this month I experienced the Virtual Dementia Tour for the first time. Along with 24 people who work in social care, we went through the tour in pairs, with most of us then observing others on the tour. The…