Sat on the plane headed home after a very positive (and a little information overload) dementia conference.  I’m thinking about the type of people that were there and what their respective interests might have been.  I’m reflecting on the fantastic work that was presented and showcased from work being done across Europe.  But I can’t help but wonder where ‘back home’, is with the concept of providing intercultural care for the diverse communities in the UK. Now if I was…

Doctoral student Mohammed Akhlak Rauf highlights the importance of thinking about dementia from a cultural perspective and managing care related transitions. Cultural Context Research shows that Black Minority Ethnic (BME – or sometimes referred to as BAME meaning Black Asian Minority Ethnic) older people are increasing in numbers. BME communities are less likely to have a word for dementia in their first language, they are more likely to present with later stages of dementia – usually due to crisis, and receive…

Sat in Palma, Majorca, on holiday with my kids, it’s hard not to reflect on a couple of things that have brought together a number of factors over the last few days. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still dementia on my mind even though the point of the holiday was to get away from work and University – letting my own mind relax a little. Anyway, catching up with my beautiful friend Julie in Palma and calling her an ‘immigrant’…

As I sit here very late into the night trying to reflect on the awesome launch of the Mental Health Strategy for our District attended earlier this week – I think about the link with holistic approach to mental health; I am also trying to review the journey BME Dementia has had and where it is headed. My thoughts take me back, thinking about a young woman who was widowed in her early 20’s. She found herself raising two young…

Dementia has quickly become a worldwide issue. People are living longer, healthcare has improved, education is more available and the world is more connected. This has led to us becoming acutely aware of social issues affecting our populations, one of which is dementia amongst our growing numbers of older people. Dementia is a collective term for a number of conditions that affect the brain. Whilst Alzheimer’s disease is probably the best known of the dementia variants, each one has it’s…