They know best

 

We work with people in a lot of different situations and although we may have previous experience of working with people with the same diagnosis or similar difficulties this does not mean that we know the best way to approach the situation.

I was linked to a very useful website this week via some training I attended about tips from people living with Dementia. It is a website full of ideas about different aspects of life and how to use small fairly inexpensive fixes to make day to day life easier for someone with Dementia. I found this really helpful because although I have worked with people with this diagnosis the people who experience this as part of their daily life have much more knowledge than I do about what works.

Working in a community team we look at what is available in the community first before looking into other options and then paid for services. Some of the simple tips that are offered could save a lot of money but also could allow someone to remain in their own home for longer by doing something small and simple.

One of the tips given is about someone struggling on the stairs, potentially having falls because they could not see where the steps ended. They said they had put a different colour on the bottom step for contrast and this was enough to alleviate that problem. I have seen similar things mentioned on documentaries I have watched on this topic about how light switches are generally white on a white background so can become almost impossible to see but marking the edge with either paint or coloured tape can make a big difference.

When we think of Dementia people usually focus on the memory side of things and how people become forgetful but forget themselves that there are a lot of other symptoms and difficulties that can come with it that we may come across. Also, if we don’t ask, we wouldn’t know. We may see someone presenting with falls and presume its mobility loss when its just they can’t see where something is. We find out about sensory impairments generally, but I do not think as many people realise there can be some that come from Dementia diagnosis.

I feel that it should be the same when we think about any diagnosis or specific life experience. The people who are living with that or have lived with that are going to have a better understanding of the situation and the best coping mechanisms for dealing with that. We need to make sure we do not disregard someone’s experiences and that we utilise them both when we are working with that person but also keep it in mind to use in situations where we are supporting someone in the same boat in the future.