WANDERING the WARDS An Ethnography of Hospital Care and its Consequences for People Living with Dementia By Katie Featherstone and Andy Northcott This is an interesting and useful book, based on the wanderings of the authors and staff, NOT the patients with dementia in hospitals! This book is especially timely in light of the release…
You may not believe it, or see it, but people with dementia are still being Prescribed Disengagement®, and only supported to die, rather than to live positively. You may not believe it, but if you have a stroke, you will recieve rehabilitation, whereas if you are diagnosed with dementia, you won’t. You may not believe…
This quote is extremely relevant to me, and it is most definitely time for me to let go more, and to occasionally let others know I need help or support, instead of bearing the often heavy load of too many things for so many others. People don’t often check in with me, not because they…
“Invisible wounds are the hardest to heal, and often their healing depends on the unconditional love of others.” Inner healing is also made very difficult when a person dies, and it is also really challenging to heal one’s own wounds, even when the person is still alive, when their love and affection is conditional. 2019…
The short Vimeo I am posting below today was made by a friend and colleague in Scotland, which I found to be incredibly profound. For me, it spoke mostly about truth. But it also speaks about lies and deception, and arrogance and the lack of scrutiny. As I have become what others often tell me…
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…
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…
In today’s blog post, I am highlighting a piece written by Sonya Barsness, The Faces of BPSD published recently. Sonya is a gerontologist, and it says on her blog; “I am a bit of a rebel – I like to challenge thinking – and revisionist is a term that seems to capture this. A revisionist is…
Let’s STOP Pathologising Normal Human Responses For #WAM2018, and on day 3, I am continuing my series of blogs, highlighting why many other people also believe we need to BanBPSD. On June 9, 2018 Susan Macaulay wrote an open letter to members of the dementia community worldwide, highlighted below. She outlines what happened to her…
Urgent Attention: Gabriella Rogers and 9News This letter is in response to the entitled “New Drug to Treat Behavioural Issues in Dementia Patients”, publicised on Aug.18th 2018 at 6pm. “This report misrepresents both the facts and the real-world experiences of people living with dementia. The report positions all behaviour, moods and reactions within the frame of a dementia diagnosis…
Most Saturdays (for me), I attend a Brain health ‘motivational’ meeting to help us stay focused on being healthy and staying positive. It is hosted by two of the Board members of Dementia Alliance International., for anyone with dementia, or for someone supporting a person with dementia, worried about their own brain health or about…
Having been nicknamed Smiley as a young school girl, I can attest to the power of optimism. I found this quote in an airline magazine recently, but forgot to write down who it comes from! Maybe Meryl Streep, but I’m not 100% sure! Anyway, it resonated with me deeply, as I have been innately optimistic…
I’ve been researching inclusion, accessibility and friendly, along with a number of terms regularly used within the dementia sector. One of the reasons is because of the ‘lightbulb’ moment I had last week, during an email discussion with people from a number of countries, where they no longer use the word dementia. In fact, they have…
Life with dementia is one very tough gig. Being a dementia activist though, makes a diagnosis of dementia seem easy! There are 24 hours in every day, and for about 18 of them, when I’m awake, I am constantly thinking of giving up my activism and even the more moderate advocacy. Thankfully people do appreciate…
I’ll continue to “PressForProgress for equal rights for all people with dementia (dementia also affects more women than men) I’ll continue to “PressForProgress for equal pay for women I’ll continue to “PressForProgress for equal numbers of woman as men in leadership roles I’ll continue to “PressForProgress against ALL forms…
