Health
How can you help your parent stay well for as long as possible and find their way through a complex health system?
Caring for a mother-in-law with cancer
Adrienne Gruberg, founder of The Caregiver Space, shares how she adjusted family life to care for a mother-in-law with Lymphoma whilst her own husband battled lung cancer. My mother-in-law, Sylvia – all four-feet-ten inches of her – was a spitfire of a lady! At eighty-nine, she was one of the most resilient people I had […]
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Walking the hospital corridors in dad’s shoes
This week’s storyteller has chosen to be anonymous.Our storyteller talks about their experience of life as a hospital in-patient and shares how they came to appreciate their dad’s perspective after seeing behind the curtain of NHS patient care. I’m not normally a hospital patient. I do spend a great deal of time as a visitor […]
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Mum didn’t tell me about her major heart surgery
Written by Rebecca Lenton This week’s storyteller is Clare Tanner. When your aunt mentions that your mum’s having surgery and you had no idea – what do you do? Clare shares her experience of her parents’ preference for privacy and desire to not worry her by not telling her about it! Mum is 70 in […]
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How can retailers become truly dementia-friendly?
Written by Kathy Lawrence Simple changes can make navigating and enjoying the shopping and eating out experience much easier for those with dementia. Shops, restaurants and community spaces regularly do an excellent job in signposting the way to the toilets in their buildings. But how about signposting the way out as well? Dementia expert Prof […]
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Why we should all have dementia training
Written by Rebecca Lenton Rebecca, our social media whizz kid, recently went on a “Dementia Awareness in the Community” training programme run by local charity Alzheimer’s Dementia Support. She shares the practical tips she learnt for dealing with dementia and her new perspective on the disease. According to the Alzheimer’s Society there are over 800,000 […]
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Do meals on wheels actually mean tea and company?
Written by Rebecca Lenton This week’s storyteller has chosen to be anonymous. Ever wondered what a meals delivery means for your elderly relative? Is it a friendly face and a welcome chat to brighten their day or is it much more than that? Is it a break from the norm of spending their day in […]
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When dementia brings death to your door
When When They Get Older launched last year Jill Sinclair, The Glasgow Herald blogger, became a supporter, contributor and friend. She shared with us just how important it was to talk about dementia, in particular her Father’s, and the therapeutic quality blogging holds for her. In 2012 Jill moved back to Scotland to care for […]
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10 questions to ask your parents before it’s too late
Written by Kathy Lawrence There are some questions that are really hard to ask, but knowing the answers can greatly relieve the pressure in times of emergency or end of life. We’ve put together 10 questions to ask before it becomes necessary. How you ask them is up to you – but probably not as […]
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Talking about death over dinner
Written by Rebecca Lenton This week’s storyteller has chosen to be anonymous. Our storyteller shares how broaching the subject of dying with your parents doesn’t have to be hard, especially when your mum brings up her own death at the dinner table. When Sunday lunch turns into a talk about keeling over you know that […]
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How dad’s humour eased his death
This week’s storyteller is Gill. A terminal illness is hard for anyone to come to terms with but when Gill’s dad was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease he dealt with it in a surprising way – through humour. She tells us how his jokes eased the pain of his passing and ensured his family remained […]
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