Would you ever consider a treatment holiday from a medical condition? Please take our poll

Hives

Hives

About a year and a half ago I attended a workshop run by an advertising agency who wanted people, from the world of healthcare and social media to join them to discuss the launch of a new product which they hoped could help prevent dementia.

The agency got their wires crossed as to when the session should begin so I and another lady arrived an hour or two early.  This happens!

It turned out that the lady was both a journalist and a GP so, naturally, the conversation turned to areas of mutual interest.  In this case the lives of people with multiple sclerosis.  She mentioned that in her experience it was common for people to take treatment holidays.  By that what she meant was that a number of people, not just with MS, found that for certain occasions it was preferable to come off treatments because of the side effects.  For example vacations and holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving were common reasons given to stop various treatments.

Since them I’ve wondered home common this actually is.  So we have decided to run a brief poll with our readers to find out.  The poll is below and it would be great if you could take part.

The comment boxes are also open for you to share any further stories which you think may be of interest to other readers.

Many thanks in advance


World Alzheimer’s Day – 21st September 2013. How to talk to somebody with dementia!



Today is World Alzheimer’s Day.  We would like to take this opportunity to honour both people with Alzheimer’s and also their caregivers.

The aim of this blog is both to raise awareness of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia and to give a few hints to how better communicate with people who are losing cognitive abilities.

There are a few basic principles which we would like to share with you.   Please feel free to share with others as well.

a)      Firstly introduce yourself and address the person by their name.  This means that you will limit possibilities of confusion.

b)      Beware of facial  expressions and body language.

c)       Do not get angry however hard the conversation is.


d)      Try to be as simple as possible in both your choice of words and sentences. If you have to impart any instructions please just do one at a time.

e)      Be patient. It can be tough for both parties.

Finally you may not feel that the conversation has been successful by your estimation. But remember sometimes the conversation is there just to show your love and support for the person with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia.

If you have any other tips or advice about communication with a person with Alzheimer’s please share with our other readers in the comments box below.

Finally we have produced a graphic below to commemorate World Alzheimer’s Day. It would be great if you could share it with family and friends across the internet to help us raise awareness of World Alzheimer’s Day 2013.

World Alzheimer’s Day

World Alzheimer’s Day