Dementia Carers Voices Update
Dementia Carers Voices is involved in the early stages of a number of exciting projects to raise awareness of the impact that dementia has on families and put the voices and experiences of carers at the forefront of discussions on future dementia care strategy.
Academic paper and book
The University of the West of Scotland will be collaborating with Glasgow Caledonian University to produce an academic study into dementia in Scotland, based upon the life stories collected by Tommy Whitelaw during his ‘Tommy on Tour’ campaign. This report will then be transformed into a book in which carers can pass on support and helpful tips they picked up during the course of their own journey caring for a loved one.
‘Letters through Art’ project
Dementia Carers Voices will be working in partnership with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and ‘Art in the Gart’ to use carer’s life stories as the inspiration for an art display in the new wing of Gartnavel Hospital Scotland
Carer engagement film- “It’s okay to ask”
In partnership with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Community Health Partnerships, Tommy Whitelaw aims to build on the success and profile of his previous awareness raising campaign by fronting a carer engagement film to highlight the role of carers and encourage them to seek help to prevent crisis situations. This message will be spread further through ‘roadshow’ events in public spaces across the GGC area to interact with carers in their local communities.
Tommy admits that he himself waited too long to ask for help, and it is for this reason that he is so passionate about empowering and enabling others. “One of the biggest issues for me is that many people are unaware of the support already available to them that could avert crisis situations and literally change their lives.”
Talks to health and social care professionals
Thanks to the cooperation of NHS GGC, Tommy will continue to deliver presentations sharing his experiences as a carer with health and social care professionals and students across a variety of settings including hospitals, universities and colleges. These events are intended to raise awareness amongst the professionals that people come in to contact with during their journey as a carer and feedback from these events to date has been extremely positive.
Programme Director Irene Oldfather and Project Officer Tommy Whitelaw recently met with Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing, Alex Neil to update him on the Dementia Carers Voices work programme and some of the projects outlined above. We look forward to sharing the key findings from carer’s experiences with him over the next two years in order to put dementia carers in the spotlight and ensure that their views are incorporated in to future carer’s strategies.
We are passionate about providing a platform upon which carers can voice their hopes and concerns. If you would like to share your experience of caring for a loved one living with dementia, please contact tommy.tommy@i-woz-there.com
All of the above is based on the words .thoughts ,experiences of familes who write to me ,Our lives in our Words
All of the above is based on the words .thoughts ,experiences of familes who write to me ,Our lives in our Words
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