Blog

We had 18 members today. It was a cold windy day, so everyone was happy to meet even though it was also Bank Holiday. The karaoke session always precedes the chat time which starts at 2.30pm. Lisa welcomed everyone and after a good chat Katie joined us for the music entertainment. Katie was dressed up today looking like Agnetha one of the ABBA girls. Katie really looked great and Kevin one of the carers soon got his ABBA wig on too. Today was therefore an ABBA songs session and Katie sang all the favourites.

Eon then joined us and as usual his great music is always very motivating and gets everyone exercising. Lisa then showed everyone a funny video about people mobile phones and how mobile phones can make people so blinkered by what goes on around them. Everyone found it very funny.

Lisa did a multiple-choice quiz today and the person with the highest score was Pamela and John with 9 out of 10. Lisa ten called out the Bingo numbers and the winners today was Booba Beryl and Hazel.

Mark took the session again today as Lisa Had to go for a medical appointment. The Karaoke session went well. James Le Bec entertained everyone as usual followed by Richard Kravetz who got everyone exercising Yoga and the followed with a quiz about Films and Oscars. There were a few quiz winners – Karin and Corrado, Helen and Chrystalla, Chris and Gina and Jackie and Joan.

Mark then called the Bingo numbers and there were 2 winners today – Pam and John and Karin and Corrado.

Mark wished everyone a good rest of the week and also wished the Greek Cypriot members a Happy Easter. There were a few requests for ABBA songs next week which Mark said he would find for the Karaoke.

We had 27 members this evening. Lisa welcomed everyone and introduced a discussion about DNR ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ This was a request from one of the carers. This raised a lot of discussion and Dr Angela Parker was also able to provide a lot of advice and had already emailed some links to Lisa which would provide very useful information for everyone. Lisa said that she would forward the links to everyone after the meeting.

Lisa then introduced Peter Simaliak who was doing the presentation today. Andrew who usually does the seminars was unfortunately unwell this week and everyone passed on their best wishes. Today’s topic was a First Aid training seminar about ‘Choking’ Peter showed a video and also talked about the various methods when someone is choking. Peter also showed another short video of a new anti-choking device called ‘Life Vac’ which can be bought for about £60. This device is used a lot apparently in care homes. It looks like a plunger and it is placed over the nose and mouth and the idea is that it will suck out the object which blocks the airway. It was a very informative seminar and Lisa and everyone thanked Peter. The presentation slides and all previous presentations can be emailed on request. Dr Angela’s links are below for information.

The rest of the meeting was open to members to ask questions. Lisa thanked Peter again and Dr Angela and the meeting ended at 8.35pm.

Resources Archive/Compassion in Dying

https://compassionindying.org.uk/library/

Northamptonshire health care Advanced Care planning document to fill in

http://www.nhft.nhs.uk/acp

NHS England » My future wishes: Advance Care Planning (ACP) for people with dementia in all care settings

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/my-future-wishes-advance-care-planning-acp-for-people-with-dementia-in-all-care-settings/

Dying dementia and resources

https://www.scie.org.uk/dementia

End-of-life care issues in advanced dementia

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3822659/

DNAR forms and CPR decisions

https://compassionindying.org.uk/making-decisions-and-planning-your-care/planning-ahead/dnar-forms/

How are DNAR forms issued?

https://compassionindying.org.uk/making-decisions-and-planning-your-care/planning-ahead/dnar-forms/issuing-dnar-forms/

Talk CPR Videos

http://talkcpr.wales/talk-cpr-videos/

We had 19 members today. Mark introduced the new Tuesday Karaoke session today which had a classical theme and musicals by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Everyone enjoyed it. Lisa then welcomed everyone and some new people today. Today’s chat was more about everyone’s aches and pains which was quite funny. Ian our music entertainer then joined us and as usual makes everyone smile and sing-a-long to favourites. It was then time for the exercise dance session with Rachel which is going really well. Mark then called out the Bingo today and the winner was Jo, Grazia and Enzo. Kevin kept everyone amused with chat and lighthearted jokes.

We had 20 people today. Lisa was unfortunately not at the session today as she had a medical appointment. Mark however covered the session with Kevin.

Mark welcomed everyone and read out Lisa’s message updates. Kevin then continued to cover for Lisa with Mark helping with the technical side.

Everyone enjoyed the Karaoke session at the beginning and the music entertainment with Katie Paine. Katie also sang Happy Birthday for Helen and everyone wished Helen a Happy Birthday. The exercise session with Eon Walters was great as usual and then Kevin had a riddles quiz for everyone which was fun. The winner was Pam and John with the highest score. Lisa then called out the Bingo numbers and the winner was John and Audrey. As this was their 3rd win – Lisa announced that John and Audrey were the winners of Bingo 10 and they will receive a gift.

A big thank you to Arzu Bingolo who works at M&S Whetstone for giving up 2 days of her week holiday to do a bucket collection and raise more awareness about dementia. She was also supported by Neil Conwell the Store Manager, Maria Scelsi, Kamal Patel and a few other staff who all volunteered and were all very supportive in helping Arzu.

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Leaflets were handed to people who wanted to know about dementia and other leaflets were also placed at the tills. Thank you Arzu and M&S Whetstone for your support which is greatly appreciated. It was also a pleasure to see 2 of the members Gina and Chris of Dementia Club UK who were passing at the time and wanted to make a small donation. Dementia Club UK want to continue helping as many people as possible living with dementia and also provide support and advice to the carers and families.

Dementia Club UK are very proud to announce that we are officially in partnership with Barnet Carers Centre. Mike Rich CEO of Barnet Carers Centre attended the carers group meeting on Tuesday 20^th April 2021 and was excited to announce the official partnership. Working together means that we will be able to reach out and help and support more people living with dementia and also their carers and families.

Lisa was interviewed by Mike Rich CEO of Barnet Carers.

 Chris’s Music Room

 At the session today it was a lovely surprise when two of the members Gina and Chris were sitting in a different room in their house. This was not just another room however – this was Chris’s passion with music. The room was filled with a vast collection of records and CDs and pictures some of them signed by song artists. Chris loves his room which brings back many good memories for him in his travels with musicians. His favourite rock band however is Thin Lizzy. Chris loves his room which he treasures and Gina is also very proud of Chris’s collection.

{gallery}ChrisMusicRoom{/gallery}

We had 22 members today. The Karaoke session started at 2pm and then at 2.30pm the chat session started. Lisa welcomed everyone. And James Le Bec soon joined after. It was lovely to see Kathy dressed looking like Eliza Doolittle in my fair lady and Douglas wearing a boater. Last week James Le Bec suggested that he would sing some songs from various musicals and if anyone wanted to dress up it would be nice. Kathy and Douglas were the only ones who remembered and Lisa made sure to ask James to triple the points in the music quiz as a reward for Kathy and Douglas.

James then started and his first musical song was from Jungle Book. James also sang Edelweiss from The Sound of Music and The Phantom of the Opera which everyone enjoyed listening to. It was then time for the music quiz. Everyone did really well in the music quiz scoring 162 points. Richard Kravetz then joined us for the Yoga exercises. Lisa had to leave early today as she had another work meeting at 4pm but Richard continued after the Yoga with his general knowledge quiz which was a true or false quiz. Andrew Mills got 10 out of 10 – well done Andrew. There was no Bingo today as Lisa played a few games yesterday. Mark wished everyone a happy rest of the week.

We had 31 members this evening which also included carers from Christies Care. Lisa welcomed everyone and introduced Mike Rich CEO of Barnet Carers centre to provide the latest news and updates.

Mike was excited to announce the official partnership with Dementia Club UK and mentioned the video interview with Lisa which is now on the Barnet Carers website. Mike mentioned that he made a few changes to the Barnet Carers website and mentioned the launch of the Carers App which is a way for carers to get connected, get together, get training, support and advice. The carers App can be downloaded and instructions are on the Barnet carers website and will also be on the Dementia Club UK website. Mike then mentioned about the launch of the electronic ID Carers card which has a photo on the card and details which can be held on a Smartphone/Android and other devices. There will still be a choice however for those who still prefer a card. Mike then talked about the Emergency Card scheme which is supported by Barnet Council. If for example the carer has an accident and is unable to look after the person they care for, then if you make a call to Barnet carers  centre, they will arrange emergency care for the person you care for. The card has an emergency telephone number and a reference number which confirms and identifies the carer is eligible for this service which is funded by Barnet Council.

Mike then talked about Grant schemes that are provided for people who are struggling to pay for example utility bills, shopping etc. Barnet carers will pay £100 of shopping vouchers to carers in receipt of carers allowance.

Mike also mentioned the Carers Trust Grant which offers a grant of £350 for carers to use for example for travel, trips away, respite care or to buy a washing machine.

Some questions were raised about how to make a contact name on a phone an emergency contact and there were also questions about some phones unable to unlock. Lisa explained that she would ask Nick who is one of the Trustees and understand about this technology to explain this later after Andrew’s seminar.

Andrew’s seminar started at 7.30pm and the topic today was ‘Stroke Awareness’. Andrew presented some slides and also showed a short video explaining what stroke is and what someone needs to do when they are faced with this type of emergency. The symptoms of Stroke can be remembered by F A S T.

F (face)A (arms) S(speech) T(time) was explained. Dr Angela Parker also one of our Trustees also explained that we should also be aware if someone has the following symptoms-   Wobbliness, Double Vision, Lack of Consciousness.  Andrew mentioned that he would incorporate that in the presentation slides.

There were questions from a number of members and Dr Angela was very helpful in providing answers and analogies when providing explanations which everyone was very grateful. Lisa asked members if there were any further questions for Mike and thanked him for attending this evening and providing the updates. Mike informed everyone that he would be attending the carers group meeting every 2 weeks. Lisa then asked Nick to explain and respond to the questions about emergency contacts and Nick also suggested that he already had some instructions on our website which Lisa said would email to members.

The meeting ended at 8.35pm and Lisa thanked Mike, Andrew, Dr Angela and other Trustees and wished everyone a happy rest of the evening.