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: knowledge
Myths and lessons
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…
What to do for ‘the best’
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…
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…
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…
Five things I wish I’d known before my dad’s dementia
I’ve lost count of the number of times people have asked me for tips and advice when dementia has come into their life. With more people than ever before now living with dementia, or knowing someone with dementia, it seems…
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…
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…
An elephant never forgets… but sometimes humans do…
So here we are in 2015, with all the usual hopes for improvements in services and support for people with dementia and their families. It’s tempting to write my first blog of the year on what needs to happen to…
Falling through the statistical net
Statistics drive health and social care policy. If a condition, disease, treatment or care option doesn’t have a fairly alarming statistic attached to it, it is likely to be ignored. Interestingly, however, I’ve only really learnt this since I began doing…
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…
Ten lost years
It seems like a very long time ago that my dad first started showing signs of dementia. In essence it’s about twenty years, but since so much has happened subsequently it feels like a lifetime separates those experiences. With the huge level…
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…