The power of non-pharmacological interventions to improve wellbeing was illustrated by a project to find out the causes of distressed behaviours and respond accordingly. Clinical psychologist Joanna Marshall and OT Susannah Thwaites spoke about their project to prescribe music, robotic pets and sensory items instead of anti-psychotic medications. Marshall and Thwaites are part of the…
Care providers contributing to a session on staff development said that culture change was essential for training to make a difference. Lynne Phair, who has advised East Midlands care home group Milford Care, said introducing the Montessori Way in dementia care had “transformed the culture” of the organisation. “We agreed that all staff needed to…
Former Department of Health (DH) civil servant Ruth Eley – now chair of the carer involvement group tide (Together in Dementia Everyday) – gave short shrift to the government’s proposed Major Conditions Strategy (MCS), a combined strategy for dementia and five other conditions including cancer and heart disease. While at the DH Eley had a…
Open University Press’s “Reconsidering Dementia” series continues to grow with four new books in the pipeline to add to the five books already published. Books forthcoming next year include Talking with Dementia Reconsidered, by Keith Oliver, Reinhard Guss and Ruth Bartlett, Living with Dementia Reconsidered (IDEAL Project), edited by Linda Clare and colleagues, and Reconsidering…
Research programmes have tended to focus on finding a disease-modifying treatment for Alzheimer’s, but how can we channel more funding into research to improve care and quality of life? Susan Mitchell, head of policy at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said her charity was committed to finding more treatments but that it was important to avoid “unintended…
Aston University in Birmingham played host to the 17th UK Dementia Congress (UKDC) last week (November 7 & 8) when delegates from every corner of the sector came together for a lively and thought-provoking conference and exhibition. Celebration and concern Graham Stokes, from UKDC’s main sponsor HC-One, kicked off the proceedings by reminding the audience…
Graham Stokes, from UKDC’s main sponsor HC-One, kicked off the proceedings by reminding the audience of how much had changed in the 30 years since the Journal of Dementia Care was founded. “Over those years we’ve been waiting for the great medical breakthrough on dementia and that’s yet to arrive, but we do now realise…
As always there was a strong academic strand to UKDC and Dr Shirley Evans from our academic partner University of Worcester spoke about the continuing impact of the pandemic on people living with dementia, whose UK numbers are now forecast to be 1.7 million by 2040, an increase of 42% on previous estimates. It meant…
Is staff training a “magic wand” that miraculously produces results for people living with dementia? The answer from Professor Claire Surr, who gave UKDC’s annual Tom Kitwood Memorial Address, was a firm “No”. The thrust of her talk on dementia training and education was that effective training is not just a matter of what you…
Staff training in hospitals was one of several themes discussed in a plenary Q&A session in which a panel of experts answered questions put by the audience. A delegate said that ward staff had been unable to distinguish her grandad’s delirium from his dementia and had left the family members to feed him even though…