Back to Alzheimer's Society Innovation Hub

Natasha's profile

Activity for Natasha Howard

Showing: 4 Results

Sort by

Worries around telephone banking

This challenge is based on experiences we have heard: My mum who is 64 was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease last year and now lives alone since dad passed away recently. I’ve seen how mum has found it difficult taking over the finances, which is something dad always looked after. Mum still understands money and that bills need paying, but she worries and struggles with doing her banking over the telephone. The security questions the bank ask her make her anxious and...

by Natasha Howard (Admin)
3 months ago

Reaching people without Internet access

What about supporting people who are needing to ‘shield’ or ‘self-isolate’ but who don’t have access to The Internet? From previous projects and pieces of work, we have found that this can often be a challenge anyway, for example in terms of accessing information, but with the current pandemic and a lack of social interaction, this could make it even harder for people as a lot of the solutions for social interaction are using The Internet, such as video calls. How can we reach those who...

by Natasha Howard (Admin)
11 months ago

Getting a dementia diagnosis during a pandemic

We know the difficulties in getting a dementia diagnosis for people at the best of times. We know in pieces of work that have taken place that it can be harder for people to receive a diagnosis. For example, in England, it is estimated that there are over 210,000 people with dementia without a diagnosis, and diagnosis rates in local areas range from around 50% to over 90%. What about people who are currently needing to self-isolate or ‘shield’ without a diagnosis of dementia? How can they...

by Natasha Howard (Admin)
11 months ago

How do we keep connected to those in care homes in 'lock-down'?

Currently, there are many people out there with a loved one in a care home – what do they do when the care home is in 'lock-down'? What can they do if they can’t see their loved one? And what about if their dementia develops and they won’t recognise them a few months down the line? How can we best support people in this situation?

by Natasha Howard (Admin)
11 months ago

Thanks so much for sharing this, Lindsey, and your positive outlook on what works well. It's really interesting to hear all these experiences and as you say, what works for some could work for others, or there may be other tips and ideas that people have to share.

Thanks for sharing these examples, Suzanne. I agree, it would be great to hear how teams across the organisation are connecting and if others have ideas for new ways to meaningfully connect!

Some more really helpful comments here - thank you. And you're absolutely right, it's the importance of 'meaningful connection'!

This is a really helpful way of looking at it, Serena, and getting an understanding of why people are feeling the pressure. Thank you for sharing all of this.

For others who are experiencing this pressure, are there any additional reasons as to why you may be working more hours than you should be?

These are all great ideas - thanks so much for sharing these Serena!

Such a good idea Emily - thanks for sharing! It is certainly something a lot of us miss.

Thank you for sharing this Dianne, and so sorry to hear how your wellbeing is being more and more impacted.

Do you have any ideas on what could be put in place that could really help you and others in a similar situation?

Thank you Sian for sharing this really important need that a lot of us are missing at the moment!

I have a friend who has started using this online meeting space for her work. You can move to different rooms and chat to different people (the volume increases around those you are closest too), so realistic to a networking event!: https://gather.town/

Really love this idea - thanks for sharing on behalf of one of your team members Lee!

Thank you so much for sharing your experience, Lesley. And absolutely, flexibility is so important for many reasons, including the benefits you talk about above.

It would also be interesting to hear if you or others have any suggestions about getting the balance right for those who aren't necessarily doing 'flexible working' but are working a lot of extra hours.

Perhaps something for the workshops...

Remember randomised coffee trials where you opted in to be randomly paired up with someone for a coffee catch up? It used to be a good way of meeting people. For us to do something similar as a directorate, once you've been paired with someone, you can arrange a day between you, which may include a video or phone catch up at the start of your day, and then you can decide if you want to continue checking in with each other through Skype or another channel that day. You could share your preferences beforehand. The randomised coffee catch ups could be once a week, once a fortnight, once a month - whatever suits.