Health
How can you help your parent stay well for as long as possible and find their way through a complex health system?
Designing activities for people with dementia and their families
It’s hard to watch family members lose the ability to create and play as dementia takes hold. And it makes finding enjoyable activities to share harder too. One young designer, Ben Atkinson-Willes, has worked with experts to develop activities that are satisfying, doable and promote conversation. Dementia affects not only the patient but those responsible […]
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How can we tell if a parent has Alzheimer’s disease? Part 2
Alzheimer’s disease is hard to diagnose and so far there’s no cure. We’ve been talking to Re:Cognition Health, the “brain health experts”, about how we can recognise the signs and what can be done about it. In the second of two parts we look treatments available now and being trialled in the future, and ask […]
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How can we tell if a parent has Alzheimer’s disease?
Written by Kathy Lawrence Dementia is a frightening prospect. How can we tell if our parents have it? Could we get it? Are there any treatments? We’ve been talking to Re:Cognition Health, the “brain health experts”, about diagnosis and drug trials. In the first of two parts we look at how we can know if […]
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Are films a form of reminiscence for ageing parents?
Written by Rebecca Lenton Eleanor Bryson, from Memory Bank, shares how watching archive footage of the past has helped older people and those with dementia recall memories and communicate with their loved ones about the lives they once led. Memory Bank, an innovative series of films spanning six decades, was created as a resource to […]
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How to help your parent live well with Multiple Sclerosis
Written by Rebecca Lenton While more than 100,000 people have Multiple Sclerosis in the UK there are many facts and fictions surrounding the condition that have led to common misconceptions. MS is not a fatal condition but as there is no cure a diagnosis does mean that the disease will slowly affect your parent’s neurological […]
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Top tips on making life easier for someone with dementia
Written by Kathy Lawrence We can’t fix dementia. But in small ways we can make the world feel safer and less confusing. To help them We can suggest to their carers that they keep to familiar habits and routines – washing and dressing, meals, bedtime. On the other hand, if our parents want to do […]
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Is there a “how to” on preventing and diagnosing dementia?
Written by Sandra Bullen What’s the state of dementia research today and what needs to happen next? How can we recognise the early stages of dementia and what can we do about it? These are some of the topics that When They Get Older co-founder Sandra Bullen discussed with leading dementia experts when we joined […]
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How to cope when your parent has a stroke
Suffering a stroke is a danger at almost any age, but it’s our parents who are often most at risk. It can be terrifying when a parent has a stroke but making sure we’re aware of the warning signs, as well as the risk factors, can help to prevent permanent damage to our parent’s memory. […]
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How a game of pairs helped gauge grandad’s dementia
Written by Rebecca Lenton This week’s storyteller is Caroline. Caroline shares how a creating a personalised game of pairs for her grandad has helped him recall his family as his memory fades. About two and half years ago grandad had a mini stroke which catalysed the onset of his vascular dementia. His recovery was slow […]
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Autumn outings soothe mum’s dementia
This week’s storyteller is Hannah Davies. Hannah shares how she’s learnt to embrace the changes in her mum’s health as her dementia progresses. Autumn has arrived for my seaside town, and whilst we still get a sunshine filled morning or afternoon there’s no mistaking that the temperature is dropping along with the leaves. I notice […]
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