Dementia Action Week – Being A Dementia Friend
This week, to raise awareness for Dementia Action Week, our team are discussing why they became a Dementia Friend and how that has helped them in their role and also in their personal life. Today we hear from Trainee Solicitor Molly Evans…
My Role At Timms
Hello, my name is Molly Evans and I have been a Trainee Solicitor at Timms since January 2022. Prior to my Training Contract I worked with Timms as a Conveyancing Paralegal and have just celebrated my one year anniversary with the firm! I recently became a Dementia Friend by attending an information session run by my colleague Charlotte Day. To mark Dementia Action week, I thought I would write a short piece on the benefits of becoming a Dementia Friend and how this has helped me in my role at work, as well as in my personal life.
How Becoming A Dementia Friend Has Benefited Me
There can often be a stigma attached to Dementia which may be caused by a lack of awareness. The Information Session was useful in helping us to identify and challenge common misconceptions associated with Dementia and develop a deeper understanding of the condition. An example of a common misconception is that all types of Dementia are hereditary. We also learnt in detail about the ‘bookcase’ analogy which explains how a person’s brain can be affected by Dementia and that certain memories from different points in their lives can become ‘wobbly’. I, like many others, have family members with Dementia and, as a result of the information session, am better equipped to interact with them in an understanding way.
I now also have greater confidence when spending time with people who have Dementia, whether this be my own family or clients who come to see us. At the end of the Information Session, we each made a pledge on how we would take action to implement what we had learnt, for example, wearing our Dementia Friend badge or passing on what we had learnt to others.
Attending A Dementia Friends Information Session
I would highly recommend attending a Dementia Friend Information Session in your community, or alternatively you can join online at the Dementia Friends website. There are many people affected by Dementia who feel that society fails to understand the condition. So, the more of us who become Dementia Friends, the more we can build Dementia friendly communities.
If you would like more information regarding becoming a Dementia Friend, please do not hesitate to contact my colleague Charlotte Day on 01283 561 531 or c.day@timms-law.com. Alternatively, you can read more about the Dementia Friends Information Sessions on our website by clicking here.
May 2022