Tuesday 5 November 2019

Dementia Carer Voices 5 Steps to Change Flyer looking at Leading Change, Transforming Care.

Dementia Carer Voices 5 Steps to Change Flyer looking at leading change, transforming care.

Dementia Carer Voices would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has made a pledge as part of the You Can Make a Difference’ campaign and we are absolutely delighted to have received nearly 20,000 pledges! 
This is a wonderful milestone to reach and would not be possible without the commitment and passion of everyone who attends our talks, reads about our campaign and pledges to make a difference to the lives of people with living with dementia and their carers.
The team have been taking the ‘You Can Make a Difference’ campaign to 650 talks to date, reaching over 100,000 staff and students throughout the UK to highlight that no matter what their role, everyone working in Health and Social Care Services has the potential to transform the lives and experiences of people with dementia and their carers, often in seemingly small ways.
You can read all the over 16,000 pledges on our pledge page and see our ‘You Can Make a Difference’ case studies.
In June 2017, Dementia Carer Voices launched its publication analysing 6,000 of the pledges we have received in the three years running the project. The key messages were around the importance of time in delivering compassionate care for health and social care staff and students.
Irene Oldfather – Director says:
” Dementia Carer Voices new leaflet describes how we can move forward to ensure that we put people at the centre by asking what matters to them, that we listen with heart to ensure that we action what they tell us and what we put rights at the centre of everything we do.
Using our 5 steps to change model we look forward to working with carers, health and social care professionals and those living with dementia to transform care.
Looking to 2018, we look forward to taking our message to communities, care homes, universities and hospital across Scotland to ensure a rights based approach to care with compassion”
Tommy Whitelaw – UK Lead says:
” We are so very lucky to be meeting health and social care professionals and students all across the country on our Make a Difference Tour and Campaign.
We hope our new 5 Steps to Change Flyer and initiative will support turning good intentions (pledges) into purposeful actions”
If you have been inspired to make a pledge, please get in touch and email us your pledge at dementiacarervoices@alliance-scotland.org.uk
If you have made a pledge and want to share how you have made a difference, see our inspirational ‘What Matters to You? case studies.

 



Download our brand new 5 Steps to Change Flyer to help support turning pledges into actions.

Thanks for reading my blog, You can now view my 8 short flims here! http://tommy-on-tour-2011.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/my-mums-name-was-joan-this-is-our-story.html
DCV photo DementiaCarerRGBlandscape3_zpsa2f3d5ff.jpg

Thursday 1 August 2019

The summary report from last year’s ‘What Matters to You?’ Day is now available to download.


The summary report from last year’s ‘What Matters to You?’ Day is now available to download.

‘What Matters to You?’ Day takes place every year on the 6th June. The principles of ‘What Matters to You?’ have had a huge influence on our Dementia Carer Voices project and, in particular, our You Can Make A Difference campaign.
Our UK Project Lead Tommy Whitelaw sits on the working group alongside colleagues from across the third sector. In sessions with health and social care staff and students across the UK, Tommy has shared the importance of building relationships and making time for meaningful ‘What Matters to You?’ conversations.
Team DCV spent last year’s ‘What Matters to You?’ Day launching a pledge tree and visiting staff and students across Ayrshire and Arran.
And it’s not too late to get involved in this year’s activities. You can register and find resources here (this link will take you away from our website).

Thanks for reading my blog, You can now view my 8 short flims here! http://tommy-on-tour-2011.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/my-mums-name-was-joan-this-is-our-story.html
DCV photo DementiaCarerRGBlandscape3_zpsa2f3d5ff.jpg

Make a Difference Campain Peolpe Places and 23,000 Pledges

The Dementia Carer Voices project’s You Can Make A Difference campaign is coming to an end having collected 23,000 pledges.

Over the last five and a half years, Dementia Carer Voices has held improvement sessions with students and health and social care staff in hospitals, care homes, universities and colleges across the UK.
In the process, we have engaged with around 170,000 people at nearly 900 talks, collecting 23,000 pledges to make a difference – all of which are available to read on our website.
These pledges encompass practical improvements in the workplace, as well as more personal reflections.
  • “I will never forget, even when the people I care for do, who they are and what matters to them. LOVE ALWAYS WINS! Set the standards high.”
  • “My pledge is to be someone’s voice when they are unable to speak.”
  • “I pledge to get to know a person by their name, their story, and not as the person with dementia.”
  • “I pledge to never forget the privilege it is to be part of someone’s journey.”
  • “I pledge to continue to visit my patients who are lonely and encourage them to fulfil their potential and listen to their stories. Their past teaches us how to be better human beings.”
  • “I pledge to make Gran (a retired nurse who has dementia) proud. And to never stop learning from the people I meet.”
  • “My pledge is to treat everyone I care for with the same respect, love and care I would give my own loved ones.”
Our Rights and the Carer Voice publication also highlighted some of the barriers people face when trying to fulfil their pledge. The most common themes were a lack of time, a lack of resource and workplace pressure. An amazing 45% of people, however, reported that nothing would stop them making a difference.
You can read about how some of these 23,000 pledges have been turned into meaningful actions on the Case Study section of our website. Following on from our improvement sessions overnight rooms and dementia friendly lounges have been created, ‘What Matters to You?’ boards have been put up in wards and patients have been married in hospital.
So keep in touch and let us know how you are getting on with your pledges. If you have any examples of having turned your good intentions into purposeful actions, we’d love to hear from you. Please email any stories you would like to share to dementiacarervoices@alliance-scotland.org.uk
We plan to produce a legacy report very soon, summarising more of the outcomes from our You Can Make A Difference campaign including feedback from a selection of our partners.
We’re really excited as a team to begin the next stages of our work, building on the learning from our pledge campaign. Although we will not be collecting pledges anymore, our improvement sessions will continue as a part of our new campaign. We plan to carry on our partnership work with Glasgow City HSCP whilst continuing to analyse the poetry we received last year in partnership with the University of Glasgow. And we have a few more exciting announcements to make soon too – so keep an eye on the Dementia Carer Voices section of the ALLIANCE website for updates over the coming months!

Thanks for reading my blog, You can now view my 8 short flims here! http://tommy-on-tour-2011.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/my-mums-name-was-joan-this-is-our-story.html
DCV photo DementiaCarerRGBlandscape3_zpsa2f3d5ff.jpg

Monday 18 February 2019

It Started with a Song ( Concert for Caring )


It started with a song, it ends with a song

Growing up like most in Glasgow, New Year’s parties at home ended with songs. I used to watch and listen to my dad sing songs from Perry Como, to Frank Sinatra, to Roberta Flack. And anytime he sung a love song, no matter how crowded a room, his eyes fixed solely to my mum with a love for each other I’m so glad I witnessed. Parties when I was young always finished with a song.
Many years later I worked in music, travelling the world for over 25 years with many different artists and bands. That’s where I first met Mark from Regular Music and HIPSWAY, who will be arranging and playing at our Concert for Caring on April 6th. My working days and nights both started and finished with songs.
After 25 years touring, I returned to Glasgow for a short break at first for myself, then unexpectedly and unprepared to care for my late mum Joan who lived the last years of her life with dementia.
During our darkest days over those nearly six years, when my mum was often scared and I felt quite hopeless and we felt alone, by accident and wishing my dad was here to help us, I sang to my mum one morning, a Perry Como song ‘For the Good Times’. My mum’s eyes lit up and I knew, I knew in my heart mum was remembering my dad and suddenly we both felt less alone, less scared and I felt less hopeless. And every time from then on when either of us was scared I would sing one of those songs.
Since my mum’s passing, as part of my role as UK Project Lead at the ALLIANCE I’ve been on a tour across the UK giving more than 850 talks to approximately 170,000 people. 22,500 people have pledged to make a difference, celebrating people, champions, who dedicate their lives to care for others. Every talk on that tour has ended with a song.
This tour ends on the last day of March 2019 and part of our ALLIANCE Concert for Caring is to celebrate the people we have met along with the songs.
On April 6th 2019 at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, I suppose in many ways it all started with a song and it will end with a song.
Come and join us and sing for love, kindness, care and celebrate people in song. Let’s end the evening together in song.


Thanks for reading my blog, You can now view my 8 short flims here! http://tommy-on-tour-2011.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/my-mums-name-was-joan-this-is-our-story.html
DCV photo DementiaCarerRGBlandscape3_zpsa2f3d5ff.jpg

Friday 1 February 2019

Celebrating 20,000 Peolpe ,Place and pedges Making a difference



We are so very honoured to announce that more than 20,000 individuals, hospitals, universities, colleges, care homes and hospices have now added personal pledges to our ‘You Can Make a Difference’ campaign. This is a wonderful milestone to reach and would not be possible without the commitment and passion of everyone who attends our talks, reads about our campaign and pledges to make a difference to the lives of people with dementia and their carers. We have reached over 150,000 people across more than 750 talks and have met so many remarkable people so far.
These 20,000 pledges are from a personal perspective so each of them is unique and from the heart. 20,000 people have stopped and reflected on what they can do in their lives to make a difference. And no matter what your role, everyone has the potential to transform the lives and experiences of people with dementia and their carers, often in seemingly small ways.
I’d like to thank my teammates Irene, Laura and Matthew and all of the amazing people we have met on our You Can Make a Difference tour.
We are constantly inspired by the remarkable people that we meet, the knowledge, skill, dedication and care we witness and the incredible ways people turn pledges into actions. Thank you to each and every one of you.
We are really proud to be able to work with the Chief Nursing Officer for Scotland Professor Fiona McQueen (this link will take you away from our website), and the Chief Nursing Officer for England Professor Jane Cummings (this link will take you away from our website), sharing key messages from both and feeding back on the aims and outcomes of the people we have met.
You can read all of the pledges we have received so far on our website, as well as our pledge case studies, most recent publication and 5 Steps to Change resource.
The campaign will continue throughout the year. If you have been inspired to make a pledge yourself, you can email us at dementiacarervoices@alliance-scotland.org.uk
We’d love to hear how you plan to make a difference!

We have published a press release for this landmark here on the Dementia Carer Voices website.
Master Pledge Page
EVERY PERSON ,EVERY PLACE ,EVERY PLEDGE BELOW 

September 2018


August 2018


July 2018

24/07/18 Northumbria University Nursing Leavers Conference



June 2018


May 2018


April 2018



March 2018



February 2018

06/02/18 Craigielea, People, Pledges, Music, Wishes and Life Stories

16/02/18 Portsmouth Hospitals Launch Pledge Tree

20/02/18 Queen Margaret University, Nursing Students Add Pledges

21/02/18 Abertay University open sessions

28/02/18 The Midlands and East Region LCAV Conference Delegates Add Pledges

 



January 2018




December 2017




November 2017

03/11/17 Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust 
06/11/17 Aberdeenshire Health and Social Care Partnerships
07/11/17 New College Lanarkshire
08/11/17 Care at home teams Livingston 



October 2017

04/10/17 City of Glasgow College Pledge to Make a Difference
25/10/17  NhHS Borders District Nursing 
26/18/17 Stirling University 3rd Year Nursing


September 2017



August 2017



July 2017



June 2017



May 2017



April 2017



March 2017



February 2017



January 2017



December 2016



November 2016


October 2016


September 2016



August 2016



July 2016



June 2016



May 2016



April 2016



March 2016



February 2016



January 2016



December 2015



November 2015



October 2015



September 2015



August 2015



July 2015



June 2015

May 2015



April 2015



March 2015



February 2015



January 2015





December 2014

15/16.12.14 Norfolk and Suffolk


November 2014

03.11.14 Online pledges
07.11.14 Burton Hospital
13.11.14  Pledges of the week
24.11.14 The Retreat York


October 2014

13.10.14 More Pledges
27-30.10.14 NHS Highland Tour


September 2014

01.09.14  Teesside University




August 2014



July 2014


June 2014

3/4.06.14 NHS Conference
27.06.14 BCDA Birmingham


May 2014 



April 2014

(08 -10).04.14 NHS Dumfries & Galloway 


March 2014



February 2014

19.02.14 NHS Fife

January 2014

We began the campaign by asking “What does caring mean to you?”


Thanks for reading my blog, You can now view my 8 short flims here! http://tommy-on-tour-2011.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/my-mums-name-was-joan-this-is-our-story.html
DCV photo DementiaCarerRGBlandscape3_zpsa2f3d5ff.jpg

My mums name was Joan ,my Mum Had Dementia - our Story 9 Short Films

Tommy’s speech, providing a carer’s perspective,  on the theme of “ No – one ever asked   ” highlighted the transformational impact that ...