What the Hell Happened to my Brain?: Living Beyond Dementia.

It is time to write the second Edition of this book, which will be an Audiobook, especially as this first edition needs an update. I’m looking forward to being able to launch the audiobook, but especially to updating a few of the chapters in my first book, as not only have my opinions changed since…

Dementia Advocacy: Is It Broken?

It’s great to see new dementia advocates inspired and empowered to start speaking up for change. What’s disturbing though, is that after more than four decades of it, ‘we’ are asking for exactly the same things as the pioneer dementia advocates including Christine Bryden and James McKillop (who were both diagnosed in the last century),…

Dementia Awareness: A Waste of Time?

My inner rage, sometimes quiet, sometimes more obvious and loud – against the persistent status quo, particularly in the field of dementia ‘care’ is not meant to be personal, not to any individual, or to any organisation. I am well aware and often say in presentations that almost everyone I know goes to work (paid…

Review: “About Us Without All Of Us: The Elephants in the Room”

Chapter Review by Elizabeth Deane McCarthy, Student of Ageing and Public Policy, 2024 “Coming from a background of Mental Health Nursing (Training completed during the COVID pandemic) with a special interest in Dementia, I picked up Ageing of the Oppressed and couldn’t put it down. Kate Swaffer’s chapter ‘About Us Without All Of Us: The…

It’s time to unlock the doors

Two webinars on deinstitutionalisation: “Ordinary lives” Todays post is to highlight two important webinars being hosted by the European Network on Independent Living, coming up soon. The United Nations Deinstitutionalisation Guidelines released in 2022 refer to all people with disabilties, which therefore includes people living with dementia. People with dementia are not only locked inside…

Driving and Dementia

Taking the Pedal Off the Metal: When Should Older Adults Stop Driving? Published by NIH News in Health, October 2021 “… some health conditions common with aging may make it riskier to get behind the wheel. Stiffer joints and weaker muscles can make it harder to steer or brake safely. Eye diseases and some medications…

New Book – Ageing of the Oppressed: A Pandemic of Intersecting Injustice

For some, reading my chapter in this book may feel like I’m ripping off a Band-Aid, or worse. It may feel like a betrayal. It may sound ‘angry’. There will definitely be moments of discomfort, denial, and even disbelief that a ‘retired’ dementia self-advocate could, and would dare to say many of the things I’ve…

Restrictive practices: A pathway to Elimination

The Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability recently released a commissioned research report into the use of ‘restrictive practices’. The Restrictive practices: A pathway to elimination research report, compiled by researchers from the University of Melbourne, the University of Sydney and the University of Technology Sydney says restrictive practices…