Dementia Carers Count, the national dementia charity for family carers, has partnered with the Joy Club, which is offering retired or semi-retired carers free premium membership as part of the deal. The Joy Club is an online activity club that provides inspiration for a happy retirement. Members can find out about trying something new, meet...
My Grandma has Dementia Alex Winstanley, self-published, ISBN 9798582240631, £7.99 Alex Winstanley’s book My Grandma has Dementia aims to demystify dementia for children. It tells the story from the point of view of a child whose grandma has been diagnosed with dementia and follows through from the initial signs that something is wrong to her...
The research papers summarised here are selected for their relevance and importance to dementia care practice by the section editors, Hazel Heath and Sue Benson. We welcome suggestions of papers to be included. If you would like to contribute a summary or a short comment on an important research paper recently published, drawing practitioners’ attention...
Namaste Care reflects a patient-centred philosophy that has begun to prove its worth on hospital wards for people with advanced dementia. Julie Young found that it helped to reduce distress and agitation, reassured families, and strengthened bonds between staff and patients As a concept “Namaste” means to “honour the spirit within” and it has been...
Memory and language skills are often compromised in people with dementia, yet reminiscence sessions rely on both. Carol Thorne considers the challenges of sharing meaning in reminiscence work and how to overcome them People living with dementia may have difficulty with memory and communication, yet reminiscence relies precisely on those two factors. My question is:...
Palliative care towards the end of life is still all too rare for people dying with dementia despite the presence of clear triggers for action. Jennifer Todd and colleagues discuss the findings of their study It is an established principle that people with dementia should have good palliative care, but there remains a failure to...
Training for care home staff in dementia care is patchy and sometimes poor, so academic experts tried out a new one-day course. Ana Barbosa, Clare Mason and Lindsey Collins report on the results, which showed that a co-designed face-to-face course can significantly improve staff’s sense of confidence and competence Estimates suggest that approximately 40% of...
A new drug to treat dementia, called aducanumab, has been licensed for use in the USA, but should it be approved in this country too? Toby Williamson warns against placing too much faith in “Big Pharma” and questions the relationship between the business world and dementia care Reports of a new drug that research indicates...
Figures suggest there may be 68,000 LGBT people with dementia in the UK, but they remain largely invisible to care and support services. Claire Days and Andrew Gilliver describe how the Bring Dementia Out programme has helped to bring about change Over the last two years, our Bring Dementia Out programme has been highlighting the needs of LGBT+...
Complexities and challenges of younger onset and rarer dementias Fiona Chaâbane is Consultant Admiral Nurse at University Hospital Southampton, specialising in young onset dementia and Huntington’s disease. The incidence of younger onset dementia (atypical or rare dementia in people under 65) is estimated to be between 5% and 9% of the total number of people...