On a recent visit to Sweden I was invited to participate in a community event with residents, staff and families to an international feast - a Valkommen!
Read moreA FIRST IN SURREY…. Cranleigh joins in
People attended felt they enjoyed learning how to interact with empathy to someone with Dementia. Some had no personal experience but learnt about the need to look at the underlying feelings with learning Strategies and hearing about other experiences from within the community group from Cranleigh.
Read moreWhere have all the men gone?
This issue was raised by Martin Green on Bank Holiday Monday August 31st 2015.
Why we need more men in care. I believe this issue is very important for older people and is not just about men who want men to care for them – care homes can be ‘over- feminised’ environments and the presence of men has a positive effect on several levels - My 97 year old mother living with dementia in a care home frequently said to me – ‘Give me a nice man to look at any time!’.
Read moreFinding the right place to learn: enabling purpose, commitment and meeting learning needs
Research shows that successful care homes are learning organisations: they strive continuously to meet standards of quality and best practice through learning and development. We know that Managers play a central role both strategically and operationally in making this happen and owners provide the enabling framework and support.
Read moreHuman Factor Validation
Julia Pitkin and I will be delivering the first course of its kind in the UK in January. We believe this course will help people to find more creative ways of working with the person who has dementia with their involvement. It will provide much greater job satisfaction through new insights, knowledge and skills -learning new behaviours. Behaviour we see in others living with dementia which was once labelled ‘problematic’ can be reframed in positive ways.
Read moreEnd of Life and Dementia
My journey over 10 years with my mother who was living with dementia in a care home has been an experiential roller coaster of learning from ‘the other side of the fence’. Having spent over 20 years of my working life in care homes we found ourselves unexpectedly consumers of the care home sector, first with my father who had multi-infarct dementia and then my mother who had a combination of both vascular and the Alzheimer’s type of dementia.
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