Over the last few years, the concept of Dementia Villages, Memory Cafes, Dementia specific shopping lanes, etc. has been growing, and worse, the villages are currently being lauded as ‘best practice’, in spite of there being NO evidence for them. Just like the Dementia Friendly Community or Dementia Friends initiatives, they were developed by people…
In an article titled, Faking Medical Reality, (as opposed to faking dementia) by John Rappoport on a website called The PPJ Gazette, John covers the issues of “when mainstream advocates attack so-called alternative or natural health, they tend to mention that their own sacred profession is based on real science, on studies, on clinical trials.” One…
A friend and colleague, Dr Peter Gordon tendered his resignation as a medical doctor this week. As a fellow Spartan, I felt very sad, but I also strangely triumphant (for him) about his decision, as the rationale for his resignation is truly noble. To have the honour of knowing another person willing to stand up…
In the last few weeks, there have been a few articles, blogs or tweets on the impact of others publicly doubting a persons diagnosis of dementia, which I am highlighting here for your weekend reading! One tweet by a professional last week claimed with certainty some people don’t have dementia. Whilst it didn’t name anyone,…
The life of an advocate can definitely be rewarding, but it can also be very challenging. Along my own roller coaster ride of living with dementia and public advocacy, I have met a lot of wonderful people, as well as felt a lot of frustration. I am though, very happy not to be walking alone…
For a change, I’m delighted to actually want to be labelled!!! Of course, many here will be surprised and wonder why. A dear friend and colleague posted a blog called ‘Labelled‘, and I’m extremely happy to be labelled one of the ‘criticals’… Dr Peter Gordon wrote: ‘There appears to be a new diagnostic category being…
In a blog published on 19 October 2018 on the site, strategy+business, There’s No Such Thing as Difficult People, written by Adam Kahane, there is a strong suggestion this is true. I took a screen shot from the site of Adam to use here, which has some information about who he is, and refers to…
Late last year, I received a few ‘top tips’ from the University of South Australia (sent to students for surviving exams), and I’ve modified them to apply them to life in general, and especially to living with dementia, or supporting someone with dementia. Feel free to add to them, suggest alternatives that may be better…
Another great blog recently by Sonya Barsness called Being Better than a Stick in the Eye. In the beginning (i.e. after my diagnosis) my husband and I too were ‘starving’, for any old stick in the eye! And in the beginning we also meekly accepted any old stick in the eye. There was so little…
Living by the “two ears one mouth – applied in that proportion” principle is not always easy! Sometimes that will mean listening and perhaps not speaking at all, or maybe even not joining in including walking away, if you can only say negative or hurtful things. It’s our individual responsibility to control how we treat…
Congratulations to the Australian Financial Review 100 Women of Influence (100WOI) in 2018, and to the category winners and overall winner. It is an honour to be listed amongst a group of such remarkable women. The awards are in their sixth year and were this year expanded to include an Alumni Projects program, an initiative designed…
A few months ago, I wrote a poem saying I wanted my old (pre-dementia) life back! I was either having a really bad day or was more sleep deprived than usual. My life is so much richer since having been diagnosed with dementia, and it has been the third greatest gift in my life. One…
Please read this brilliant blog by my colleague and friend, Tina Minkowitz. “When we go to a doctor’s office we may feel nervous, apprehensive. We worry about test results, we worry about whether a treatment might do more harm than good. We put our trust in the practitioner provisionally and hope she is trustworthy and competent. But…
Following on from all the wonderfully honest #DAI #Hello stories shared during World Alzheimer’s Month or Dementia Awareness Month, which is a term I prefer, as I’ve been advised many times by my neurologist I don’t have Alzheimer’s, I decided a blog updating the changes in my cognitive disabilities was in order. Sometimes the raw…
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