Blog #6

A day in the life of a Dementia Care Adviser

There are so many things that I love about this role, but one of the best things is that no two days are ever the same!

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A day in the life....

One day, I may be out on a pre-arranged home visit to a new dementia customer, or visiting a local care home to understand the dementia services they offer for prospective dementia residents. The next day, I may be working from home on my laptop, making phone calls to family carers, and then sourcing information on local dementia-friendly events and activities for their person living with dementia. Or I can be writing things like this Blog, or monthly dementia newsletter articles for our customer newsletter or my local village newsletter.

Working from home, the office and in the community

Working from home in the community that I support, has its ups and downs. I enjoy the chats about dementia as I bump into my neighbours while dog-walking round the village every morning. However the conversations while the kettle boils are not the same when it’s just me and the dog here at home. Her level of conversation is sadly lacking, but she is a very good listener if your hand is in the dog-treats jar! I try to be in our office in Kingsclere once a week; it’s good to keep in touch with the office team who take all the phone calls and provide the backbone of support to our customers. I also support communities away from where I live; I cover not just West Berkshire, but also North Hampshire. I am therefore often driving down to North Hampshire to visit our Dementia Customers or to meet with their family members to provide support, information or advice. I am also a member at regular networking events in North Hampshire as well as West Berkshire. It is the best way that I have found, to learn more about an area which you do not know well.

Dementia Assessments

We now offer Dementia Assessments as part of my role. This is a useful tool to help the family carer understand where their person with dementia may be on their dementia journey. As a Power of Attorney, having some understanding of how long funds may need to last to cover possible future care is a vital piece of information.

Cafés, Vlogs and Staff Training

We launched our Hungerford Dementia Café in partnership with Age UK Berkshire (& Dementia-Friendly West Berkshire) during Dementia Action Week in May 2024. We run the Café on a monthly basis, at a local hotel that has an excellent function room catering for all our different activities. Some months, we have a singer or musician playing for us or we might have local artists or craft-makers come in to make things with us. The activities are varied but they are always enjoyable & fun to do. As well as enabling people with dementia to do or make something that makes them feel proud. I also produce video blogs or “vlogs” that we add to our website and to YouTube. The videos are a free resource for anyone to use, explaining different aspects of dementia and with helpful tips on dementia care for those looking after their person with dementia at home. I am also a part of the Induction week for new staff, so that I can meet them and talk about the people they will be visiting as a Care Expert. Providing the right person-centred support at the right time is central to what we do.

What do I enjoy the most?

Some of my most enjoyable days are spent sitting in a customer’s home, talking to a person with dementia about their life journey. This helps us to understand who they are, but it is also confidence-boosting for the person with dementia and usually leads to smiles and laughter about 'the old times' in their earlier life, before they received their diagnosis. Focusing the mind on happy memories is always good therapy! Because I am a people-person, enjoy meeting people and helping them to cope with all aspects of dementia care, this job is perfect for me!