Here are the links to three podcasts hosted by ‘With All Due Respect‘ I was interviewed for last year, which I probably forgot to share here. My beliefs about the dementia-friendly iniatives is that they are unfriendly to people with dementia, and wporse, are a waste of time and money; money that should be used…
When people are still being medicated for understandable reactions to a terminal diagnosis of any type of dementia, for responses primarily due to the lack of post diagnostic care, the grief and trauma of the diagnosis, the ongoing neglect, complex and constant grief, over, or under-stimulation, being incarcerated and segregated in a ‘secure dementia unit’,…
Following on from my recent short blog about the book and mini-series, Dopesick, I am writing about having an existential crisis… For many years, and with each new year now, I’ve had an increasing feeling of pessimism about the lack of change from my activism, or the advocacy and activism of so many others, especially…
Following the free Dementia Rehabilitiation e-Course I was involved ih developing, now being hosted by Dementia Training Australia, it is great to share another step towards supporting people with dementia to remain active and engaged in their (our) communities. It is even more important to people with dementia and their care partners and families who…
Introduction to Dementia Rehabilitation: This free course aims to raise awareness, change attitudes, and present evidence for the need and provision of rehabilitation as part of post diagnostic care for all people with dementia and their care partners. It is suitable for a mixed audience, including health care professionals, peopel living with dementia, care partners…
Image source: https://www.monash.edu/medicine/national-centre-for-healthy-ageing/living-labs/Improving-access-to-rehabilitation-for-people-with-dementia The right to rehabilitation of everyone, including people with dementia is one of my pet topics, and anyone who’s followed me here for a while will know I’ve been writing about and campaigning for dementia to be supported as a condition causing disabilities, and for proactive rehabilitation immediately after diagnosis for all…
Dementia is not in itself a disability, but reframing the symptoms of dementia as disabilities aligns directly with a rights-based approach under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), rather than just treating them as biomedical “deficits”. This graphic provides a visual example of some of the disabilities people acquire as a result of…
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…
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),…
My blogpost today is to invite interested health professionals to participate in a study run by Monash University. A/Prof. Michele Callysa is the lead Chief Investigator (CI) on this project. I am also a CI, along with many other colleagues. Scroll to the bottom of this blog for more information, and for who to contact…
For almost 15 years, I’ve been campaigning for ALL people with dementia to be advised the symptoms of dementia are acquired disabilities, not only a death sentence, and for all people with dementia to receive rehabilitation, immediately after diagnosis. This is to support, and even improve cognitve and functional abilities, as well as improve our…
Over the last few years, but especially the last few months, I feel like I have finally found my tribe, or perhaps, I have found a new tribe. This emerging and growing group of people I have come to know, either through social media, zoom and even a few who I’ve met in person, not…
‘How can we redress and repair violence, abuse and neglect of people living with dementia in residential aged care?’ People living with dementia have been subject to significant harm, including violence, abuse, and neglect in aged care in Australia. Yet, this harm is rarely recognised and redressed. People living with dementia in aged care, as well as…
Anyone who has followed me here for a while will know that in 2008, following a diagnosis made by my neurologist of a young onset dementia, I was advised to prepare to die, via aged care respite, which I ultimately trademarked as, Prescribed Disengagement. I was not supported to live well, or positively at all,…
The Chief Executive Officer at Women’s Community Shelters, Annabelle Daniel OAM, wrote an interesting post on LinkedIn recently, which began with Albert Einstein’s quote: ‘The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.’ With the greatest of respect and with very much love for the fierce and wonderful…
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