I want to start this blog by sharing a graphic from a social media post from a wonderful friend and colleague, Nicola Payne: The graphic Nicky shared got me thinking about myself and my friends and family, but also about…
Resolve to challenge assumptions about independence
Without a doubt, the topic of how to support independence has seen the biggest volume of training enquiries for me in 2022 (I touched on this in my September 2022 blog). I attribute many of these enquiries to the post-Covid…
What makes everything ok?
“It’ll all be ok.” A common phrase we all use when we want to reassure someone. However, for people with dementia it’s not always that helpful. Yes, it offers a low-level of verbal reassurance, but that may not be understood, and…
Women’s raw deal on dementia
As I was compiling a roundup of the last six months of dementia news for MacIntyre’s Dementia Special Interest Group recently, one story jumped out at me: “In 2020, 46,000 women died from dementia, almost twice as many as men (24,000)…
Are you in the 15% or the 85%?
I see a lot of dementia statistics in my work, but none have shocked me more than that which Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI) published on 21 September 2022 as they launched their 2022 World Alzheimer’s Report. ADI said: “Up to 85%…
Finding familiarity in unlikely places
We talk a lot in dementia care about the importance of familiarity, whether it’s achieved through using words or phrases that are familiar to the person, or whether it’s through familiar environments (OWL FM) or familiar items or objects. Familiarity…
Make a difference like no other
If there is one thing that everyone in social care is acutely aware of currently it would be the recruitment and retention crisis. People who need support and their families are suffering due to the workforce crisis, staff are being…
Carers: We are United
Many people find me and my work through searching for individuals with experiences of caring. I’ve always been passionate about sharing what we went through with my dad to help others, mindful that when my dad was alive we never…
10 years of D4Dementia… and 10 years for my dad’s dementia diagnosis
Today marks the 10-year anniversary of my D4Dementia blog. I’m not quite sure where those 10 years have gone, but this is my 270th post with the topics covered ranging from pre-diagnosis to end-of-life care and (almost) everything in-between. I’m…
I love you and I miss you dad
I’m not sure I can quite believe my dad died 10 years ago today. I have no idea where those 10 years have gone. So much in my life has changed, and yet I remember so vividly – like it…
Live in the moment
I’m often asked for my advice, as a former carer to my dad, for families with loved ones who have dementia now. The most recent example of this was my guest appearance on Pippa Kelly’s ‘Well I Know Now…’ podcast.…
Dignity: We all want it
Dignity, alongside respect, person-centred care, choice, control and independence are all, in my view, part of the basics of care and support. We all want all of the above for ourselves, so why wouldn’t any person with care and support needs…
Person-centred care in Covid times
It’s hard to believe it’s almost two years now since the coronavirus pandemic began to impact upon all of our lives. One of the major problems many care providers have had since then is how to balance the need for…
