When a call can make all the difference to coping with dementia
Statistics show that one in three of us will be affected by dementia at some point in our lives. Many families of those with dementia often find it hard to know where to turn.
Here, Janet Roberts, of the Wales Dementia Helpline, outlines the role the team can play in providing support to those affected by the condition
- Julia McWatt, Western Mail
- Aug 27 2012
While families want to support the person with dementia, they can also be fearful for the future and sometimes doubt their own ability to cope.
Norwich woman with MS wins payout in battle over care
The care I was receiving from social services in 2010 was utterly degrading and dehumanising
By KIM BRISCOE Health correspondent
Monday, August 27, 2012
6.30 AM
A woman who took social services to court, saying a lack of care to help with her multiple sclerosis was “utterly degrading and dehumanising”, has had a £9,500 out-of-court settlement.
Jan Sutton, 41, took Norfolk County Council to judicial review in June 2011 .
“The care I was receiving from social services in 2010 was utterly degrading and dehumanising. It left me trapped in bed and wanting to die. Taking legal action seemed to be the only way I could preserve my life.”
Canine carer restores life and hope to disabled woman
TRACY Wells was once an active woman who lived life to the full. She played county rugby, jogged every morning and had an active social life.
But, two weeks after getting married and returning from her honeymoon she fell down some stairs into a cellar at the shop in which she worked as an assistant manager.
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PAWS FOR THOUGHT:Tracy Wells and her canine partner Sophie
She went to hospital and X-rays were taken which showed nothing more serious than a sprain.
Eight weeks later she still could not bear weight on her leg which was starting to go black.
It emerged she had broken her ankle and severed ligaments in her right foot.
Her leg was put in plaster for five months, but when the plaster came off she still could not bear weight so was given physiotherapy.
But, after 257 sessions of physiotherapy and 49 sessions of hydrotherapy it still it was not any better.
She went on to have bone and MRI scans that diagnosed reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD), for which there is no cure.
Tracy said: “My leg now sweats more, it gets swollen and is 2.5 degrees colder than my other leg. Because of the damaged ligament, it gives way frequently.
