One of the loveliest parts of my work is being able to help people by sharing our experiences as a family, augmented by what I have learnt from my campaigning and consultancy in the 8+ years since my dad died.…
Tag: experience
It could be you
With over 200 blogs on D4Dementia, some of them now 7 years old, I’ve decided to spend my 2019 year of blogging by re-visiting some of the topics I’ve covered previously, throwing fresh light on why they remain relevant, and…
The forgotten workforce
In all of the meetings I’ve attended about unpaid carers in the 6+ years since my own caring role for my dad ended, the most common themes have been: A) How do we identify carers? And B) How do we…
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…
Why are you a carer?
On the face of it this is a really simple question, yet it is one that can generate so much discussion. It’s something I’ve been asked a lot in the last few years in the context of, “Why did you…
Why don’t we listen to people with dementia?
Before I get into the substance behind the title I’ve chosen for this blog post, I first want to acknowledge that there are organisations who do listen to people with dementia, and organisations exclusively made up of people with dementia…
Talking about dementia… with your patient
Welcome to the last of my seven ‘mini’ blogs for UK Dementia Awareness Week 2014. Concerns that a person is developing dementia aren’t just restricted to that individual – they also affect those closest to them, bringing complex relationships into play.…
Caring for carers
For many years I’ve thought of carers as the forgotten millions. As a family we certainly felt forgotten on many occasions during my dad’s 19 years with dementia, both before and during his years in care homes and his spells…
Does the world really stop?
There is a prevailing view that when someone is told that they have dementia, everything in their life must stop. If they were working or studying that must stop. They must stop driving. They stop being spoken to and start…
The voices of experience
I recently attended a high-profile meeting in London to discuss the ‘Timely Diagnosis of Dementia’. The attendees came from a wide variety of health and social care backgrounds, from those currently practicing medicine in various different settings, to academics and…