Hospital Radio Basingstoke will mark Dementia Awareness Week with three special programmes.
The week, starts on 17 May, and aims to raise awareness of Dementia, its effects and how to deal with it.
The 3 special programmes are as follows:
GRANDMA REMEMBER ME
SUNDAY 17 MAY 6.00pm & THURSDAY 21 MAY 5.00pm
“Grandma Remember Me?” is written from the perspective of a young child, Lilly, whose Grandma develops Alzheimer’s.
It explores their changing relationship from Lilly’s initial recognition that there is something wrong with her grandma, through the unfolding challenges and final acceptance and understanding of the disease. It explores the wider impact on family and the importance of memories and relationships within our lives and how to keep and treasure them.
The play raises awareness and understanding of Alzheimer’s Disease, supports early intervention and diagnosis and shows it is possible to “live well” with dementia.
DEMENTIA AND FAITH
SUNDAY 17 MAY 2015 8.30am
No fewer than 850,000 people in the UK are living with dementia. With the baby boomer generation getting older, the numbers of those receiving this devastating diagnosis are set to rise further.
Yet even when short-term memory or the ability to operate gadgets are badly affected, the memory of what has been meaningful for the patient usually remains intact for a long time. This emotional memory includes the memory of faith.
In this programme, Remona Aly discusses with three guests what role faith can play in the lives of people with dementia and their families, and what churches and other faith communities can do to meet their spiritual needs. She also asks where this leaves people of no faith – do they have spiritual needs as well, and how can carers discover what they are?
DEMENTIA AND FAITH SHELAGH ROBINSON
SUNDAY 17 MAY 2015 3.45pm
The first thing Shelagh Robinson noticed was that she got lost driving familiar routes, and found it more and more difficult to park her car. She also found her computer and other gadgets harder to operate. About four years ago, the 74-year-old counsellor received a devastating diagnosis: dementia.
But Shelagh remains thoughtful , articulate and upbeat – and she still works as a counsellor. She is also deeply spiritual. A Quaker for the last 25 years, she finds great solace in the silence and simplicity of Quaker meetings and in the good-humoured empathy and understanding she finds in her community.
And, as she tells Remona Aly in this moving interview, she feels as close to God as she ever did – and is confident that her faith will stay with her until the end.
