September the 14th National Dementia Carers Day And Dementia UK are asking for stories about special moments this is ours . Please send them yours . View all latest news Share this page: Creating Special Moments National Dementia Carers Day is a UK-wide awareness day created by Dementia UK and SweetTree Home Care Services, falling within World Alzheimer’s Month; National Dementia Carers Day 2014 will be held on Sunday 14th September. There are currently 800,000 people today living with dementia, many of whom are cared for by loved ones, friends and other important people in their lives. This army of dementia carers hold a wealth of untapped, innovative knowledge. National Dementia Carers Day has been created to recognise, celebrate and share this support. Join in by sharing your story, tell the world what being a dementia carer means to you; why sharing a moment of joy and helping someone to live well with dementia can eliminate pressures and ultimately change lives. Jan Inman is a family carer for her beloved husband Ron. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s and then Lewy Body Dementia three years ago. This came as a huge shock to the close and loving couple. As well as caring everyday for Ron, fighting his battles alongside him and navigating a tricky health and social care system, she’s been campaigning tirelessly for more support for carers like her. In March she arranged a large community fundraiser for Dementia UK and invited all of the local support services that were available to come and meet the people who they could potentially help. This included a disabled taxi service whose drivers were dementia aware, a respite care service and mobility shops. She describes Ron as the loveliest person in the world. She’s kept a close relationship with him and cares for him at home with support from her Admiral Nurse, Sam. [Admiral Nurses provide specialist emotional and practical support for family carers] Unfortunately there are only 117 Admiral Nurses in the UK for the huge number of family carers and Jan decided she’d like to change that. She started a petition to David Cameron for more Admiral Nurse services on change.org earlier this year. Despite not knowing a thing about Facebook or Twitter, she taught herself how to use these tools to get more signatures and create more awareness. She now has a wide network of online dementia revolutionaries to call friends. She says Ron is really engaged with the petition and the two celebrate together when the number of signatures creeps up. Their moment came when the petition was about to hit 3,000 signatories. Her and Ron sat at the computer and watched the number go up and up. When it tipped over the mark Ron turned to her and said “wow, you’ve done so well, I’m really proud of you.” Jan says that was better than winning the lottery. A truly special moment for both of them. What a night! You can support Jan’s petition for more Admiral Nurses here. Finished reading? Go back...
Posted on: Fri, 30 May 2014 19:38:22 +0000
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