Category Archives: dementia

Why black and minority ethnic communities need targeted dementia services

September 24, 2014   Carers, dementia, Featured Article

African-Caribbean and South Asian UK communities are at greater risk of developing dementia

African-Caribbean and South Asian UK communities are at greater risk of developing dementia than the indigenous white population, but there is a lack of specialist care

As her mother swaps childhood stories with her peers at a social club, Amina Begum sees another side to her 65-year-old parent. Her mother, Jahanara, is at ease and animated instead of being confused and frustrated.

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Putting dementia carers in control

September 18, 2014   Carers, dementia, Featured Article

Improve quality of life for both patients with dementia and their carers around the UK

Experts will explore how improved support and powers for people caring for loved-ones with dementia can improve quality of life for both patients and carers around the UK.

Health research specialists from the University of Lincoln, UK, will examine whether carers’ involvement in at-home monitoring, such as noting changes in sufferers’ behaviour and feelings on a daily basis, could help them cope with the reality of watching their loved-ones deteriorate.

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The unending grief of the dementia carer

September 13, 2014   Carers, dementia, Featured Article

Unpaid family carers shoulder two-thirds of the staggering £26 billion that the condition costs this country every year.

Posted on 12th September 2014 in Blogs 0
Pippa Kelly
Just as I was about to post this week’s blog I set it aside in favour of another.   I did so because of a remarkable interview on Radio 4 between John Humphrys, the Today programme’s resident Rottweiler, and Denise Stevens, who cares for her husband Mike, who has dementia.It’s only a few months since I devoted a blog to another Humphrys’ interview in which two people with dementia, and their spouses (and  carers) were given the prime-time 8.10am slot to explain what it was really like to live with the condition.   I described this as a significant step towards normalising dementia.

So I hesitated before inflicting John Humphrys, Radio 4 and the Today programme on anyone yet again – it hardly seems fair.  But it was such an insightful, moving piece that I felt compelled to do so, particularly as it has just been revealed that those with dementia and their unpaid family carers shoulder two-thirds of the staggering £26 billion that the condition costs this country every year.

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