Time for Dementia Officer Alison Adams in Northern Ireland, shares why she is passionate about her role as a Dementia Friends Staff Deliverer, her personal connection to dementia, and the power of Dementia Friends sessions.
“I had been delivering Dementia Awareness Sessions for a year and saw how much they helped people gain a better understanding of dementia. I have personal experience of dementia as my Mum has dementia and I was her carer until she moved into a residential home. I had colleagues who were delivering Dementia Friends Information Sessions and I saw the impact they had, and all of this encouraged me to become a Staff Deliverer."
Alison says seeing the impact Dementia Friends sessions can have is inspiring:
“Another thing that inspired me was a friend who works alongside volunteers become a Dementia Friend a number of years ago and she said that without doing the session she wouldn’t have recognised the symptoms her mum was showing and as a family they were able to get an early diagnosis for her. I saw how important the sessions are in raising awareness.
“I enjoy delivering sessions as I am able to see how people learn something new after each session, and everyone’s take away from the session is so different. I find the Dementia Friends badge and asking people to pledge their action really helps drive the message to people everywhere.
“A highlight that stands out to me in the time I have been a Staff Deliverer is delivering to a group of Cubs from a local Scout group in Magherafelt, although it was challenging at times, one of the little boys there said at the start of the session his great granny had dementia. At the end of the session when he filled out his action slip he read out, ‘’My great granny never remembers my name, but from this Dementia Friends session I have learnt that it is just a book falling off her bookshelf and I could help her by getting a label with my name on it and wearing it when I go to see her every day, then she won’t forget my name again.’’
“Another session that was very successful was an online session we delivered for Antrim & Newtownabbey Borough Council, during Positive Aging Month. The session was very well attended and the interaction on the virtual session was great. A local councillor contacted Alzheimer’s Society after the session to say they found it incredibly useful and would like to work a bit more with the Society, so they were put in contact with our Local Influencing Team to see how we could work in partnership.”
“I think at times we underestimate how powerful the sessions can be to people outside the organisation and when delivering we never know who is in the room and how the session will help them, not just now, but also in the future.
“In my personal life I have completed two endurance cycles raising £10k for the Society!”
