Catriona's posts
4 Aug
How do you feel today?
Listening to Sheryl Sandberg this week on Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, made me really think about our community and those that live day to day with a chronic condition. Sheryl is the Chief Operating Officer at Facebook and for …
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1 May
GPS tagging for dementia patients
Sussex police are piloting a scheme to tag dementia patients and Chief Inspector Tanya Jones has been quoted as saying “The GPS will be very cost-effective to the police. It will reduce anxiety for the family and really reduce the …
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13 Apr
Eileen Elizabeth 1920 – 2012
My mother sadly passed away 16th December last year. I like and hope to think that it was the release she would have wanted from suffering from dementia, but who knows…… Although she was nearly 93 and had been suffering from dementia …
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6 Sep
That nagging feeling
I visited my mother in her care home today and the nagging feeling of have we done enough resurfaced once again. Whilst having lost the ability to speak for quite a while my mother does make sounds and grunts to …
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29 Aug
Turn of Mind – A review
I am pleased to ‘report’ that I have now read ‘Turn of Mind’ by Alice LaPlante and would highly recommend it as both a great read and as a way to further understand dementia. A definite page turner and written …
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15 Aug
Turn of Mind
Alice LaPlante’s book ‘Turn of Mind’ which drew on her experience from her mother’s condition of Alzheimers was the first fiction book to win the Wellcome Trust Book Prize, awarded for outstanding medical writing . It is this month’s Daily Mail book of …
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23 Jul
The Power of Animals
I went to visit my mother the other day with the familiar feeling of dread in my stomach arising. The last few visits she has been extremely bad, and the visit before last was in A&E has she had had …
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2 Jul
Dementia Awareness Survey Results
Last month’s talkhealth survey came up with some very interesting results about people’s general understanding and views upon dementia – I certainly found it very interesting… There appears to be a wide difference in people’s understanding of dementia ranging from …
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11 Apr
Channel 4 and Care in Dementia Homes
I have recently been speaking with a documentary production team for Channel 4 about experiences people have had with Dementia Care Homes. They are interested particularly in the following topics: – Prescription of anti-psychotics – Finding a Dementia Care home …
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9 Apr
Carers in the home
Last week there was a lot in the British press about carers in the home and you may even have caught Deborah from talkhealth talking on BBC London radio about the issues surrounding the care provided for people in their …
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26 Feb
The inevitable….
Having had my mother diagnosed with dementia – you wonder what comes next…..she seems almost fine and as I’ve said before sounds almost the same and dresses almost the same – but clearly the key is in the word ‘almost’. …
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15 Feb
Happy Birthday!
It’s my mother’s 92nd birthday on 18th February, but unfortunately like last years she will have no idea that this day is any different from any other day. However on her 90th she did understand what was happening, but sadly it …
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23 Jan
Maggie – A lifetime defined by dementia – I don’t think so….
I have been looking forward to seeing the film ‘The Iron Lady’ due to all the hype and in particular to see how the aspect of dementia has been depicted, so Sunday afternoon saw my daughter who is 19 and …
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17 Jan
No holds Barred – no more inhibitions…..
My mother has always been a relatively forth right person and freely spoken her mind. When realising that perhaps she might have over stepped the mark in voicing such opinions and causing offence she would quickly make light of the …
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16 Jan
Going for a song
My mother has always been quite sensible and philosophical about getting old which makes live much easier. One thing that she was happy to do at quite an early stage was to sign power of attorney to myself and one …
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9 Jan
It’s all in the Noodles
I should have realised something wasn’t quite right when every meal my mother served contained Noodles. From being a very conservative cook – ie meat and two veg, it was a real surprise when my children came home from staying …
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30 Dec
My first blog – vascular dementia
Hi – I’m Catriona and part of the talkhealth team……I’ve had Deborah on my case since we started getting serious about our talkhealth blog to share with you my experiences of having an elderly parent in the advanced stages of …
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