Social media often gets a bad press, sometimes justifiably so, but it can be an amazing place to connect with people who share our views and experiences too. Something came my way last week that fits into that positive category…
Tag: language
Who is really challenging?
As regular readers of D4Dementia will know, I’ve long been a supporter (including through the National Dementia Action Alliance Campaign ‘Dementia Words Matter’) of using respectful language – as defined by people living with dementia – when communicating about dementia. I…
Communication – It’s more than just words
With over 200 blogs on D4Dementia now, some of them approaching 7 years old in May this year, 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 culture matters in dementia care
Last month saw the launch of the Dementia Action Alliance’s (DAA) ‘From Seldom Heard to Seen and Heard’ Campaign. The campaign focuses on people living with dementia and their families from six communities who are often marginalised from services and…
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…
Is it World Alzheimer’s Month, or World Dementia Month?
I should begin this blog by saying I am fully supportive of awareness-raising initiatives aimed at educating, informing and supporting people who are living with any type of dementia, their families, health and care professionals, communities and societies. The biggest…
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…
Think about the ‘Dementia Words’ that you use
As this year’s Dementia Awareness Week rapidly approaches (17-23 May), I anticipate that there will be a surge in coverage related to dementia in the UK. Indeed, it was the start of Dementia Awareness Week in May 2012 that saw…
Turning the air blue
Many families who have a loved one living with dementia will know the moment only too well when a perfectly innocent greeting, question, conversation or even silence is broken by a swear word that prior to their loved one’s dementia…
Let’s talk about dementia – Truth
Welcome to the first of my seven ‘mini’ blogs for UK Dementia Awareness Week 2013. They are all themed around talking about dementia, exploring different aspects of conversation from the point of view of people who are living with dementia,…
Trouble with the language
How we talk about dementia, and people with dementia, is a thorny issue. It is easy to be accused of being politically correct, or losing sight of the real issues by getting hung up on the language we use to…
