The Dementia Experience

By Henry Johnson

Are you worried about getting dementia in later life or do you have a relative or friend who already has dementia? Are you interested in caring for people with dementia? This book will prove invaluable in putting your mind at rest. You can have dementia and be happy, and many people living with dementia in care homes are happy. This book will restore your faith in the form of a short story about a girl called Maria who has a week's work experience at a fictitious care home called St Michael's, based upon real life experiences of carers of people and people living with dementia.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Henry Johnson
• Release date: Feb 16, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463031636

Book preview

Chapter 1

Derek is sat looking at the newspaper same as he does every morning when unexpectedly a young girl approaches him to introduce herself to him.

Good morning, you must be Derek my name is Maria. You might see a lot of me for the next week I’m here for work experience. Anything interesting in the news today?

Derek mumbles something to himself, something Maria didn’t quite catch, then laughs.

Yes, yes very well thank you. A cup of tea would be lovely thank you.

Oh, why not! Maria says.

Who are you? Derek asks.

My name is Maria, I’ll be here for a week I’ve come to help.

Oh very well! We could do with lots of help here! Laughs Derek.

I’ll get you that cup of tea.

Yes, yes thank you. What did you say your name was?

Maria. Maria smiles then goes to find him a cup of tea.

There are lots of characters here there is Mildred who likes to knit and polish things, there is George who also likes to knit when Mildred is around. There’s Alan a charming boisterous character full of life, Kenneth a man who struggles to talk but seems a very nice man. There are far too many people to name here, St Michael’s houses forty one people living with a dementia and every single one of them is both extremely interesting and unique. Maria is studying health and social care at college and has come here for a week’s work experience, she was thrilled when she found out they said they would have her there.

Maria asks Jo a dining room assistant for a cup of tea for Derek and takes it to him. One thing Maria notices is that they don’t wear uniforms here. You see they don’t want people to feel like they’re living in a care home they want them to feel as much at home as possible. Anything that might institutionalise people is banned. The staff are very loving of the people living here and they like this. There is an emphasis on feelings, affection and compassion. One thing Maria remembers Michael saying to her on her induction was that staff don’t try to be better carers, or do their jobs better here. They think about how they can make people feel better instead. It’s all about the person living with a dementia and how they feel.

Abigail does activities with people most days of the week and this morning she is planting flowers and bulbs in the sensory garden with them. David and Kenneth are most keen on this right now whist Mildred is knitting and watching them from a bench.

Although Kenneth struggles to talk David, his friend, seems to understand what he wants and they talk in gestures and exclamations with each other and spend most days together.

Kenneth gestures to David that he wants to plant a flower next to a garden gnome and a tree, but David scoffs.

You can’t put it there! It goes over here with the others.

First Kenneth looks a little disappointed and pleads to David with his puppy dog eyes, but David’s having none of it.

Over here with the others, he says sternly. There’s a bit of a kerfuffle before Kenneth starts to plant not one flower next to the gnome but three. He grins and opens his hands as if to say ‘how about it?’ And David is exasperated, he gives in. Again. For someone who struggles with words Kenneth can be very persuasive, and he is a very likeable fellow.

Mildred laughs from the bench. He did it! Well done.

David scoffs again and Abigail smiles. This is why she loves helping these people because they’re so unpredictable and funny, and adorable too.

Yvonne has broken a nail. Can you fix it for me? She asks Abigail.

We’ll cut it down to size when we get inside, she says.

But then it’ll be shorter than the others, says Yvonne.

Maybe she can make it longer for you instead! Laughs David.

Yvonne gives David one of her hard looks and Abigail tells him to stop winding her up.

I’ll do my best to make it look a little better Yvonne.