Above quote from the York Minds and Voices Dementia Strategy. At the UK Dementia Congress in November last Year, Professor Claire Surr delivered the Tom Kitwood memorial address. It was based on her in depth study on ‘What works in dementia education and training’. It’s a great piece of work. Professor Surr rightly highlighted the importance of context in dementia training. She mentions the need for a learning culture to be present. (You can watch the full address here) It very much chimed with a lot of the questions I have been asking myself over the years about how and why training work ..read more

I had just moved into a new house in Tottenham. There was a Large Swedish Home Furnishings shop nearby, and I was keen to try out the idea of flat-pack furniture for the first time. I’d get back with my large box. Unpack it. Lay out all the bits of wood, screws, plastic plugs and metal thingamyjigs. Then I’d open the instructions. That’s when my problems would start. The instructions appeared to have been written in Swedish, then translated into Urdu, then from Urdu into English. By someone who spoke no Urdu, no Swedish, and certainly no English. Routinely my best efforts would result in tangl ..read more

A New Year can often feel like a time of change. We write commitments and resolutions to   be more active, develop ourselves, lose some things, gain others, transform into the person we once were or would like to be. But the Almanac I received as a kind Christmas gift says that, contrary to popular belief, January is a time for rest, reflection and imaginings, not a time for new beginnings. It gifts us with time to plan and explore possibilities for the coming year. In one way, Innovations in Dementia enters the New Year at a time of change. We said the fondest of farewells at the en ..read more

With my retirement date at the end of 2023 looming, it feels like a good time to reflect back on almost half a century of ‘work life’. So please indulge me while I reminisce just a little! Perhaps because my Dad was bipolar (or ‘manic depressive’ as it was then called), I have, I think, always been drawn to those who have the experience of disability or long term ill-health, and in particular to those with conditions which society deems fit to mock, exclude and stigmatise. While a sixth form student I set up a visiting scheme to the local psychiatric hospital, which was very eye-opening for gi ..read more

In spite of frequent calls for it, more time, more money and more staff to solve our issues in health and social care will not be forthcoming. The need to revisit how many of us operate has become increasingly pressing. We must innovate. People did not stop getting dementia during lockdown, nor did dementia go into lockdown for those already diagnosed. I was going to title this blog ‘Learning from Dementia Voices – Lessons for a post-pandemic world’ for that is what it is about. We have in fact compiled a more complete report under that title that we encourage you to read here. It is full of l ..read more

There will soon be over a million people living with dementia in the UK – and each and every one of them is disabled, not only by the symptoms and challenges of the condition itself, but by many unnecessary societal and environmental barriers. While others are working on treatments and cures which may help those affected in the future, we are committed to tackling the non-medical barriers they face in the here and now. We believe that we all have the power to change or minimise these barriers, by making adjustments both to the physical environment, and to our attitudes and behaviours, and by a ..read more

The wonderful folk at Mindcare YODA adding their voices   As we look back over the last 10 years, there’s a lot to think about. ….but probably the words that most readily  spring to mind aren’t the ones we would have imagined when we started. Warmth Friendship. Love. None of which lend themselves to the usual metrics of evaluation. What’s the score on the love-ometer? But we see it every day in our work with people with dementia. So when I was asked to put together a piece of music celebrating DEEP, it was to this that I turned. My main inspiration came from a Dementia Diary recorded ..read more

It is 10 years since the DEEP network emerged from an important piece of scoping work by the Mental Health Foundation. Throughout 2022 we have been celebrating this significant anniversary with people from across the DEEP network. We have been celebrating and honouring DEEP’s many voices and achievements. Across the year there have been 17 in-person events, ranging from tea parties to country dancing to accessible bike riding, as well as conferences and meetings. You can watch a variety of films that capture moments of DEEP connections on our special anniversary website. DEEP stands for Dement ..read more

One of the most powerful things we can do as human beings is to use our voices. We use them to tell our stories, make our opinions heard, and to stake our place at the human table. In the last decade or so, people are getting their voices heard more widely and more loudly than ever, largely due to social media. One might argue that this is both a good thing and a bad thing. Everything we do in life has the potential to tip the world a little towards good, or a little in the other direction. Social media provides ample opportunities for both. Either way, the extent to which our voice is heard i ..read more

My Life, My Goals – a resource to give hope to people with dementia In January 2021 the UK was in a lockdown due to Covid restrictions. At the same time a team of people with dementia began work – to create a new resource to help newly diagnosed people with dementia identify their own goals and strategies. Download My Life, My Goals by clicking on the images below. You can download an interactive version or a print version:             You can also download the My Plan section of My My Life, My Goals by clicking on the image below: The idea for th ..read more