Becoming a Dementia Friend

Yesterday I went to a Dementia Friends information session in the Casson Centre, Patchway. These free events happen across the UK regularly, and I went along to see if this would provide useful context for Music Memory Box.

The session was really interesting, and refreshingly it wasn’t packed with statistics and practical advice (there wasn’t much of that and there didn’t need to be). I came out of the session with a much better understanding of dementia as an umbrella term for hundreds of different conditions. The main learning I took home was was that the symptoms and progression of dementia are different for each individual – it’s not just one size fits all.

The session was packed with personal anecdotes and analogies to demonstrate that people living with dementia are often totally able and autonomous.  Although memories and levels of understanding may be lost at later stages; emotions and moods function in the same way.

This was further explained with the Bookcase Analogy, which is really a useful and memorable way to understand dementia. Watch the video below to learn more about the Bookcase Analogy.

It’s great that Alzheimer’s Society are holding these free sessions for anyone who is looking to gain a better understanding of dementia. I really recommend signing up. You can book a session here.

Jas