BBC show at UWS campus
Presenters learn about dementia
BBC Radio Scotland presenters Kaye Adams and John Beattie recorded a dementia awareness session at the Hamilton campus of the University of the West of Scotland.
Their experiences will be broadcast as part of the station’s focus on Dementia Awareness Week, which began on Monday, May 30.
The Alzheimer Scotland Centre for Policy and Practice is based at the university’s Hamilton Campus.
Both presenters were provided with an introduction to the concept of dementia and the diversity of its symptoms. During their time at UWS, they engaged with three people who have a diagnosis of dementia, hearing about they cope with its impact on their daily lives. The presenters also spoke to two UWS student nurses, who provided an insight into how their course is equipping them with the skills required to care for people with dementia.
Presenter John said: “This learning experience is such an important tool for the medical profession and the more people who can gain some insight into what it may be like to experience life with this condition the better.
“I felt almost all of my senses were blunt and immediately, in one flash, I got it. I suddenly understood what it must be like and that someone in there, in that head, can’t help it.
“Coming out of that room, Kaye and I both twigged, there’s a different way to act when you’re around people with dementia. Don’t be frustrated because they can’t help it.”
The visits to UWS were led by Dr Barbara Sharp and Margaret Brown, who is also policy and research Advisor at Alzheimer Scotland.
She said: “We were delighted to welcome Kaye and John to our Hamilton campus for these dementia awareness sessions, which provided them with a greater understanding of how the lives of people with dementia are affected by the condition. In particular, our experiential learning exercise gave them a simulated insight into the impact of possible sensory, cognitive and mobility changes for a person with dementia.
“We hope that when these dementia sessions are broadcast it will raise further awareness of dementia and its diverse impact on those living with the condition.”
The sessions included simulation exercises aimed at enhancing empathy and understanding among participants of some of the potential cognitive and sensory difficulties experienced by those living with dementia.
These exercises saw the presenters wearing special glasses to simulate visual impairment, headsets playing distorted domestic sounds to affect hearing and concentration and other adaptations of their senses and movement that made every-day activities challenging.
Their experience will be broadcast as part of the five-week Memories and Conversations series, a collaboration between BBC Scotland, Alzheimer Scotland and University of the West of Scotland.
John and Kaye’s programmes, called Living With Dementia and Inside Dementia, will air on BBC Radio Scotland on June 1 and June 8.