Tag Archives: alzheimers
Campaigner launches film telling dementia carers ‘it’s okay to ask’ for help
Date of article: 16-Aug-13
Article By: Laura McCardle, News Editor
A dedicated campaigner has launched a short film encouraging people who care for someone with dementia to ask for help.
Tommy Whitelaw with his mother Joan
Tommy Whitelaw put together ‘It’s okay to ask’ in order to reach out to carers in Glasgow and raise awareness of vital support services available in the city.
He has first-hand experience of the difficulties people face when they care for a loved one with the condition, having spent several years caring for his mother Joan after she was diagnosed with vascular dementia until she passed away in September last year.
In the film Mr Whitelaw says: “Caring for Mum was a full time occupation. It was the toughest experience of my life. For the first five years I did this almost entirely alone – yes we had friends, neighbours and family but slowly loneliness and isolation took their place, leaving us both struggling to cope.
“It wasn’t until I reached absolute crisis that I found myself on the phone asking for help. It’s okay to ask. It’s not something we are always taught to do, we are very private people keeping private matters to ourselves but the truth is, without help it can just become unbearable.”
Other carers who have found themselves in similar situations to Mr Whitelaw also share their experiences in the film, which was commissioned by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Glasgow City Council social work services, Alzheimer’s Scotland and Social Care Alliance Scotland (the ALLIANCE.
Test of famous faces 'helps to spot early dementia'
Test of famous faces ‘helps to spot early dementia’
13 August 2013 Last updated at 01:30
Asking patients to identify pictures of famous people, such as Elvis Presley and Diana, Princess of Wales, may help spot early dementia, say researchers.
Doctors currently use simple mental agility tests to screen for the disease, but US experts believe a face recognition test should be used too.
A small study in the journal Neurology found it could flag up the beginnings of one type of dementia in 30 patients.
Trials are needed to see if it works for other forms of the disease.
The research at Northwestern University in Chicago found that people with early onset primary progressive aphasia (PPA), a rare form of dementia, struggled to identify black and white prints of 20 famous people, including John F Kennedy, Albert Einstein and Martin Luther King.
Gorleston care home named after historic Norfolk boat
Region’s new £6.9m specialist dementia home
A new care home being built in Gorleston is to be named the Lydia Eva Court. (L TO R) Colleen Walker, Lisa Utting – Care Home Manager, John Russell – Ship Manager and Karen Knight – Managing Director of NORSE Care. Picture: James Bass
The £6.9m specialist dementia home being built in Gorleston is to be called Lydia Eva Court, after the UK’s last surviving steam drifter.
The Lydia Eva, built in 1930 during the herring industry’s heyday, spends each summer moored at Hall Quay in Great Yarmouth as a floating museum, a tribute to the coast’s rich fishing history.
Yesterday, Lydia Eva supporters, dignitaries and volunteers stepped aboard the boat to celebrate her latest namesake.
