Learning to understand dementia!
Understanding Dementia!
Dementia is a general term for a decline in mental ability severe enough to interfere with daily life. Memory loss is an example. Alzheimer's is the most common type of dementia.
Dementia is not a specific disease. It's an overall term that describes a wide range of symptoms associated with a decline in memory or other thinking skills severe enough to reduce a person's ability to perform everyday activities.
Dementia is something that scares me and for a long time I wanted to learn more about this. For some reason I never did, maybe it was not the right time or perhaps my fear of getting to know more kept me from doing it! While watching T.V I saw this commercial about Dementia and how people reacted to man on the street who suffered from dementia. They spoke about a website where you can follow a training to learn and understand dementia better but most of all how to handle in certain situations.
The website is called: Samen dementie vriendelijk In Dutch which means : Together, friendly towards dementia. For those who are dutch here is the link. Samendementievriendelijk
They offer a few trainings to learn more about dementia. Today I started with the most simple one but there are also branch trainings for those who work in shops, hospitals or bars.
During this simple test I took screenshots of the website! I love how the website looks and its easy to navigate which makes it better to even start a test or training.
I clicked on the red button because that was the basic training! If you click on the other (white) Button you will find more branch related trainings.
In the basic training you will learn how to handle when you meet someone with dementia in different situations. You will see 4 different videos with four different people. I have to say that every video touched me more than I thought they would. I know the persons in the videos are actors yet they do a such a great job that I believed every second. You will see the person in a situation and at the end of every video the camera get closer as if you are the one walking up to the person in question. When you are close enough the video stops and you will get four questions. With your answers you can either make the situation better or worse.
They hand you these four words and the first letter of those words make the word GOED which means Good. They are: Reassure, eye contac, think along and thank you!
In the above picture you can see that my knowledge about how to act or handle dementie is not all to good! I answered wrong and probaly made the situation even worse would this be real! When you answer wrong they give you the reason and tell you what you should have done! In this case I was using way too many words to explain what I wanted to do. So, I learned that it's better to talk calm and clear and use short lines.
In the above picture I just finished a part with a male in a coffee bar! This time the person became aggressive, which is also a symptom of dementia. With this video I reacted good with all the questions wich made me feel good!
In the above picture you can see that I get two points for a good answer! You will get one point for almost good and zero when you do wrong! Even when your answer is right they explain to you why and how this is the best way to handle.
I scored 26 / 32 and I think that is rather good for someone with hardly any knowledge at all! Maybe I did pick up a few things in my past. They safe your results so you can always find them back when you log in! To create an account all they ask is your email and zippcode. After taking this easy training you can start doing more if you like or come back when you have more time.
Is a training like this really useful?
Of course you will not be a know it all after just a simple training like this but I do believe that they explain things in a really good way! The videos are touching and they make a lot of symptoms more clear to spot! Every bit of knowledge you have is good in my opinion! I live close to a home for the elderly and at times some of them who have dementia go outside! I want to know how to handle or help them when the need is there!
Will I follow the other trainings as well?
Yes, I am planning on doing them all! It's a good format, the website is easy to use and I really believe I am learning something that I might need in the future!
How do you feel about dementia? Are there any websites in your country where you can learn about dementia or Alzheimer's disease? Have you ever done a training for it?
Feel free to share your thoughts or experience in the comments below! Your opinion is highly appreciated!
Thank you for reading my post!
Best wishes
@poeticsnake
Samendementievriendelijk
All images in this post are screenshots from this website
is een grove ziekte, maar hopelijk vinden ze ooit wat om dit te genezen, dit is idd een onderwerp waar we allen ooit mee zullen geconfronteerd worden. als familie, vriend of persoonlijk. goed dat hier ook aandacht aan gegeven wordt
Ja, het is echt een vreselijk iets! Lijkt me zo erg om te ervaren dat je dingen gaat vergeten of dat he opeens niet meer weet waar je bent! Hopelijk, mocht er zoiets gebeuren, zijn er dan mensen in de buurt die weten hoe te handelen. Daarom zijn training zoals deze, die gewoon gratis zijn, echt goed!
xxx
Snekky
Thank you for writing and sharing about this, both my parents have early stages of dementia and they live with me. So I have to take that training. xxx
I am sorry to hear that both your parents are having the early stages of dementia. I know that you will understand the dutch so there might be some really good information there for you to read!
I wish you and your parents all the best for the future!
Much love <3<3
xxx
Snekky
This is a close subject to me being that I just lost my grandmother to dementia/ Alzheimer's just a few months ago. Its really rough to see someone go through it and hard to understand what they might be thinking and feeling. Its one of those things that you just cant tell unless you are that person.
I love that more awareness is coming and that tests such like this have come out. I feel like it is a step in the right directly thank you for sharing this and spreading more awareness on the matter.
I am sorry to hear that you are going through a hard time because of this atm. It must be really difficul to see this all happening with someone you love dearly. I hope that more awareness is coming as well because this will only happen more in the future. I never had to go through it and I hope I never will but... You know...
It's always a good thing when websites offer these kind of tests and training free of charge so anyone will be able to learn from them!
I wish you all the best for the future!
xxx
Snekky
Nooit over dementie nagedacht omdat ik nog vrij jong ben maar misschien is t een idee om eens wat op die site rond te kijken :) hopenlijk leer ik er wat van :)
Kan inderdaad nooit kwaad. Dat is wat ik ook dacht! Je steekt er altijd iets van op!
xx
Snekky
My grand-mother had Alzheimers, and her mother too. She was a school director, and would try to go to work after she was retired. She forgot that she didnn't work anymore.
It was very difficult for my grand-father, but he loved her so much and was very patient with her. She asked the same questions a million times per day, and he always answered it like it was the first time. I will never forget that. At the end, she didn't know who we were, and the last person she forgot was my grand-father. But she died peacefully in her sleep...
So good to read how your grandfather helped her during that time of her life! I am also glad to know she died peacefully in her sleep and found her rest!
It's such a painful thing to go through but also to see it happening to those we love!
Thank you for your amazing reply! Much appreciated!
All the best for the future!
xxx
Snekky
Thank you Snekky =)
I voted in a very nice. health training post post and commented and followed you and shared the post so that everyone can see this post and vote in this post
Congratulations Nice article
vote me
How about NO!
a good post, I really like what you share. good luck brother. Steady...!!!
Very very nice article good job @poeticsnake thumbs up
Thank you ever so kindly!
xxx
Snekky
well i have read many posts reagaring this thing and i think i will gat my answe in your post going to read it