A couple of weeks ago I became a Dementia Friend.
It was very simple. A short training session with a cup of tea and 45 minutes later I had a very much better understanding of this disease and what I can do to help the increasing numbers of people in our community suffering from the condition.
Dementia Friends is an Alzheimer’s Society initiative to help members of the public understand what it might be like to live with dementia and then turn that understanding into action. The Alzheimer’s Society has helped 1.4 million people become Dementia Friends to help improve the lives of those living with dementia and their carers.
I had organised the training session in Northallerton Town Hall jointly with the North Yorkshire branch of the Society and it was run by Chris Riley, an enthusiastic volunteer who has put more than 2,000 people in Hambleton through dementia friendly training.
Chris told the group that there were about 1,000 people in Northallerton district living with dementia although only about 65 per cent were formally diagnosed with the condition. That is part of the challenge society faces. There are lots of people with dementia but they and their families and families don’t know it.
He told us it is not just about memory loss. Dementia can manifest itself in many ways such as mood swings, lack of co-ordination, problems with speech and struggling with everyday tasks.
Chris is a great raconteur and illustrated his talk with reminiscences about his late father-in-law Len who suffered from dementia. Through helping to care for Len, Chris learnt a lot about the disease, particularly that sufferers can live well with the condition provided they have help and the appropriate support from the wider community.
Len was lucky to have Chris and, as Chris said, he was lucky to know Len, a Northallerton character who was born and brought up in one of the yards behind the town’s High Street.
Len could tell Chris detailed stories about his early life in the yards of Northallerton but not what he’d had for breakfast that day. That’s typical of dementia sufferers.
Chris used a useful analogy of a bookcase to explain what happened to Len’s brain as the disease set in. Before Len fell ill, the bookcase was full from top to bottom with each book representing a set of memories or period in Len’s life. But as it progressed the books started disappearing, particularly those representing his short-term memories.
Chris’ presentation was full of useful information about how to help with dementia and I can highly recommend it. He will come to your club, organisation or workplace and you can contact him via Janet Crampton of the Hambleton Dementia Action Alliance on 07540 503030.
I am very keen to spread the word about this disease for which at present there is no cure. To that end I’ll be trying to make sure the excellent work that is being done in the Northallerton area is replicated across the constituency so that we have many more dementia friends and dementia friendly communities.