This is the most common thing I hear from people about my diagnosis of dementia, and is possibly the most common others with dementia talk about. Even some people with dementia say it to me; yes, even when they themselves know how insensitive it is to hear it said. It is an odd conundrum, and one…
How do people, who are living with the symptoms of dementia and which is causing increasing cognitive disabilities, including memory loss, reduced cognitive abilities and changing emotions and behavioural responses, work together cohesively and without getting upset occasionally? One of the things I hear over and over again from this supporting someone with dementia, relates…
It is Saturday in Australia, and the first thing I’d like to do is say Happy Birthday to Shibley Rahman, a friend and colleague who will wake up in London, hopefully to a sunny day! It is not a great shot of me, but the flowers surrounding the entrance of the Bloomsbury Hotel in London…
Later today, there is to be a Twitter chat about Language and dementia, so if you want to join us use the hashtag #demphd and you’ll find me tweeting as @KateSwaffer plus you might find @DementiaAlliance and many others getting involved. The debate on language is usually rather robust, and it will be a good lead in…
I found this quote and image on LinkedIn, although I don’t know who to attribute it to. If it was you, please let me know so I can make sure your name is attached to the quote! I realise it is on a coffee cup, but that in itself does not make it a free for…
It has certainly been an interesting couple of weeks in England and Scotland, and on my last day here when we had planned to visit some dear friends south of London, we have both been too unwell so instead I have attempted to catch up on a few things like blogging, especially as I don’t think I have written…
We have been in sunny Scotland this week (yes, we brought the sunshine from Australia with us!!), and during the week I have spent a day on campus at Queen Margaret University with Professor Jan Dewing, also my PhD supervisor. I’ve also been ‘working’ on things for the Alzheimer’s Scotland conference which is on today, working on DAI…
See the Media Release below from the University of Wollongong, by Elise Pitt. I am thrilled to be a part of this innovative and exciting project. Equipping students with the skills needed to manage dementia “Pilot project to help the next generation of professionals tackle the growing issue of dementia in Australia. A pilot project…
The high and lows of social media continue to confound me! I joined LinkedIn some time ago, and get a huge number of requests to connect now from people who I don’t know personally. Because members on LinkedIn profess it is a ‘professionals’ site. What a load of rubbish!!! So many professionals on LinkedIn must be living under a mushroom. Call…
For many years, I have written about the things that stand out to me as wrong about the way dementia is seen, talked about, or managed for those of us living with it, not only dying from it. One issue that is very prevalent is that many doctors still do not bother to tell some of…
It seems I have written on Dementia advocacy before Who’d have known It’s more pain than joy It polarises people Sadly makes it more ‘them and us’ People without dementia everywhere Wanting large pieces of the proverbial pie Using people with dementia To take sides and support their business goals Or their personal agendas Being referred…
One of the problems with the advocacy organisations, and the many other organisations who have people with dementia in their mission statements, and who state they advocate ‘for’ us, and many who also say they are ‘fueled’ by the loss of a mother or father or some other person they loved ‘to dementia’, is that they may say…
It is a big week for DAI members in the UK as today is the beginning of Dementia Awareness Week in the UK. To coincide with it and the acceptance of a human rights approach to dementia by ADI and the ADI Council members in Budapest, Dementia Alliance International is releasing its first official publication on…
A friend of mine in the UK, Ken Clasper has written this important blog Getting the correct Diagnosis first time. As he says, getting the correct diagnosis, of anything, is imperative and having been misdiagnosed a number of times with serious conditions, or not diagnosed for 45 years, for a serious brain malformation, I get…
Over the last few months, perhaps years, I’ve noticed an increasingly offended, and even occasionally, an increasingly outraged voice from care partners of people with dementia, objecting to the louder global voice and inclusion of people with dementia. We are quite rightly, adding to the public discourse on dementia. There has, for a number of years now, been…
You must be logged in to post a comment.