Dementia Friends (Jamie Faulkner)

Jamie has both personal and business associations with dementia and this led him to attend a Dementia Champions course. The purpose of the interactive session was to put across 5 key messages and to get a commitment to dementia friendly action. By 2050 it is expected that 2 million people will be affected and it is essential that the reasons for and the effects of the disease are understood by others. Jamie explained that although a dementia patient may lose their short term memory for facts their feelings of emotion remain. For example, they may have unkind words with someone: they will forget the encounter but will remember the feeling of upset. The five key messages that came out from the session were:-

-       Dementia is not a natural part of ageing

-       Dementia is caused by disease of the brain

-       Dementia is not just about losing memory

-       It is possible to live well with dementia

-       There is more to the person than dementia.

At the end of the session Jamie asked each of us to commit to action in helping people with dementia and help to create a dementia friendly society.