Alzheimer’s Society in Cardiff is uniting against dementia with Cardiff Libraries this Dementia Awareness Week (14 -20 May), with activities planned across the city throughout the week to support people affected by dementia. During this year’s Dementia Awareness Week, Alzheimer’s Society is asking people to come together to unite against dementia, forgetting their differences to help urgently find a cure, improve care, and offer help and understanding. Cardiff Libraries have taken up the challenge of raising awareness to help those…

Award winning, Welsh choir, Only Men Aloud have chosen Alzheimer’s Society Cymru as their ‘Charity of the Year’ and have marked the occasion by becoming Dementia Friends. Members of Only Men Aloud joined Alzheimer’s Society Cymru staff and volunteers in Cardiff on Tuesday 21 March to take part in a Dementia Friends information session to learn more about the condition which affects over 45,000 people in Wales. They then performed a few of their songs to a crowd of volunteers…

Three outstanding ideas for better dementia care developed by frontline medical staff and patient carers are being celebrated at BioWales 2017. Cardiff and Vale University Hospital Board and Cardiff University developed a ‘Dementia Challenge’ as part of their drive for clinical innovation in Wales. Carers and staff came up with ideas that have since been turned into real-life services: a 1950s sitting room to make a ward ‘dementia friendly’; a bedside poster and publicity campaign to keep patients hydrated; a…

Mum of three Linda Smith – diagnosed with dementia aged 57 – has launched Alzheimer’s Society’s Cardiff Memory Walk. She joined a mini version of the walk in the city with volunteers urging people to register for the event to help the charity raise money for research and services Three thousand people took part in Cardiff Memory Walk last year – and the charity hopes even more will now sign up at memorywalk.org.uk.   Linda, of Splott, a school kitchen…

On Tuesday 24 May, Alzheimer’s Society are holding a Dementia Friendly Communities event in Cardiff, supported by former Wales international footballer, Robbie Savage. The event organised by the charity and sponsored by Western Power Distribution will bring together people living with dementia, returning and newly elected AMs, businesses and organisations from across Wales. The meeting aims to build on and showcase some of the work already underway in Wales to build Dementia Friendly Communities. It will feature best practice case studies and presentations by local communities working…

Dementia now affects 850,000 people in the UK alone – and that number is set to rise. It’s no secret that it’s our society’s most feared health condition and, with an ageing population and no cure, dementia will undoubtedly touch all of our lives at some point. I have witnessed how devastating dementia can be first-hand and am acutely aware that something needs to be done to fight the condition. That’s why, ahead of Dementia Awareness Week (15-21 May), I’m…

After you or a loved one have been diagnosed with dementia, it is important to plan ahead to ensure the sufferer is taken care of in the best possible way. It can be an emotional process – nobody likes to imagine a partner, family member or least of all yourself going through it – but advance care planning guarantees someone with dementia is properly looked after in the years to come. One particularly important way you can plan ahead, which…

Dementia Awareness Week, Alzheimer’s Society’s annual flagship awareness-raising campaign, is taking place from 15-21 May. This year’s campaign is about encouraging people across England, Wales and Northern Ireland to confront dementia head on. Alzheimer’s Society wants people to know that if they are worried about dementia they can do something about it and come to us for help and support. We want to tackle the many myths and misunderstandings about dementia – and show people that life doesn’t end when…

Receiving a diagnosis of dementia comes with a multitude of emotions; devastation, fear, shock, panic and bemusement. But sometimes it can be a sense of relief and hope!! Yes, relief and hope. Please bear with me.  Fear is often caused by the unknown, uncertainty of what lies ahead and having to face up to a future that wasn’t planned for.  My column is here to offer hope and comfort by helping you understand what is happening to your loved one…

Receiving a diagnosis of dementia comes with a multitude of emotions; devastation, fear, shock, panic and bemusement. But sometimes it can be a sense of relief and hope!! Yes, relief and hope. Please bear with me.  Fear is often caused by the unknown, uncertainty of what lies ahead and having to face up to a future that wasn’t planned for.  My column is here to offer hope and comfort by helping you understand what is happening to your loved one…