The Long Goodbye: our new advertising campaign

[Chizz]

You are glad that living well with dementia has taken a back seat ? Why ?

Hi @Bettusboo -- because there isn't really such a thing as "living well with dementia" or "living well with motor neurone disease" or "living well with stage 4 cancer" - the phrase "living well with..." masks reality and tries to make the unacceptable acceptable.
Yes we all have to try and make the best of a bad job, but pretending things are OK isn't my idea of educating people about the illness.

 

[maggie6445]

They would live a lot better with it with better services, better trained carers supporting them and better health and social care.

I agree but unless we can persuade wider society that it's money well spent and to accept an increase in tax to pay for it we won't see the desperately needed change that will make everyone's lives better. There needs to be campaign for change and adverts like this are just one part of it.
I'd like to see a re run if Ed Balls social care series in the run up to the election.

 

[Bettusboo]

Hi @Bettusboo -- because there isn't really such a thing as "living well with dementia" or "living well with motor neurone disease" or "living well with stage 4 cancer" - the phrase "living well with..." masks reality and tries to make the unacceptable acceptable.
Yes we all have to try and make the best of a bad job, but pretending things are OK isn't my idea of educating people about the illness.

Yes I can see that but I am keen not to lose sight of the fact that support could be so much better and it would make life better for all of us affected by it. I’m my area we are all massively affected by the crisis in staffing in care homes. More noise about this and things like this would make more difference to my life and the lives of families I know locally who are affected by dementia.

 

[Bettusboo]

I agree but unless we can persuade wider society that it's money well spent and to accept an increase in tax to pay for it we won't see the desperately needed change that will make everyone's lives better. There needs to be campaign for change and adverts like this are just one part of it.
I'd like to see a re run if Ed Balls social care series in the run up to the election.

Yes to that. That’s the sort of thing that I think might make a difference.

 

[SeaSwallow]

They would live a lot better with it with better services, better trained carers supporting them and better health and social care.

Agreed, BUT it is campaigns like this that bring the issue to the fore. How many people would be willing to pay extra tax to pay for those better services, not many unless they start to understand the impact of dementia. Living well did not do that.

 

[Bettusboo]

Agreed, BUT it is campaigns like this that bring the issue to the fore. How many people would be willing to pay extra tax to pay for those better services, not many unless they start to understand the impact of dementia. Living well did not do that.

I don’t think this campaign will do that but here’s hoping.

 

[backin]

It's a shame we can't have a dig deep for dementia evening.
Though I guess the main audience would be those who already know.
Must admit to not watching much of the stand up to cancer stuff in this house, but it does seem to have helped things move forward.

 

[maggie6445]

Campaigns like this should be one part of a push from all directions to make change happen. It should be made a main political issue in the general election and all disability charities should be working to keep social care reform alive

 

[maisiecat]

They would live a lot better with it with better services, better trained carers supporting them and better health and social care.

Hi @Bettusboo , couldn't agree with you more. How many times are we told that extra money is being taken by government/local authority for social care. Where does that money go?
How is dementia downgraded to not being a medical condition but a social problem. Can you imagine the outcry if that was done to a disease that affected younger people.
And @Lawson58 I understand your point about voting but we don't have a political party who has any intention of funding dementia properly.
Imagine the difference if each PWD was given a day a week at a Dementia day centre with structured activity and a day's respite for the carer. I know many wouldn't want to go but it would help a lot of people

 

[jennifer1967]

its like we can lead a horse to water but cant make it drink. with dementia, its something no-one wants to think about. its scary to think about the future with very little meds or support and little hope. with cancer there is always the hope that it can be cured. there is so much overlap with other diseases, quite often a person will have more than one condition but its usually the other conditions that get more attention, more support and more care. thats what needs to change that each condition gets equal attention

 

[Rubina]

I agree

Yes, indeed mild.
your loved one gets diagnosed then you are simply left alone....any concerns you have you need to get in touch with GP.

This was my experience too. My husband is now in a nursing home, and that brings on a different avalanche of emotions to deal with. However, it never fails to amaze me the ignorance, or call it lack of knowledge in the public gallery, people just don’t want to know. Who can blame them, but Dementia needs publicity. It needs backing, money poured in to research, we need help desperately. We need to be heard! I’ve often thought a few quotations from this forum, from real life carers would show the despair we all experience. Yes it’s a hard hitting advert, but they need to go further. They need to highlight from the carers angle too. Incontinence, loneliness, sleep deprivation,aggression, loss of freedom, and the list goes on.

 

[Jaded'n'faded]

I'm a little puzzled by the new ad. Yet again, it shows a quiet, 'harmless', compliant person with dementia, not showing any of the behavioural issues most of us are familiar with. Why?

The 'son' is sad, yes, but he isn't struggling, sleep deprived or at the end of his tether. The footage shows lots of family around helping.

This isn't a picture a lot of us would recognise or associate with their own experiences.

 

[nitram]

Must admit to not watching much of the stand up to cancer stuff in this house, but it does seem to have helped things move forward.

Cancer has an advantage.
Most people know at least one person whose cancer has been cured and are prepared to contribute to research because of this success.

 

[SAP]

When my mum first asked me who I was to her, fairly early on, I was preparing for it. When she became aggressive and abusive , I was prepared for it. When she became doubly inconsistent, stopped talking, needed mashed food , all these things I was prepared for. They still up set me , it’s still a dreadful disease she is still being taken away piece by piece and I am devastated but having some awareness, knowing a few of the pit falls and being able to plan ahead to get things in place have maybe saved me more heartache. This has come with years of listening to people who are caring for LO with dementia, doing training programs with Alzheimer’s Society and using this forum. Any awareness raising is still so essential because most people still do not get it.

 

[nitram]

I find it interesting to compare the approach taken by another Alzheimer's charity

 

[Kevinl]

Well the first and was bad but the nitram has put a link up to is worse, more Disneymantia than dementia. At least the first ad showed a man caring for a woman for a change.
Men can be carers too. K

 

[Fabian]

Gosh, that’s a powerful one too Nitram, thank you for sharing it, I hadn’t seen it before.
I’ve seen the Long Goodbye advert only once and then on a tiny phone screen with limited volume but I have to say I did find it quite powerful and perhaps the effect depends upon where along the Dementia journey you find yourself.
We’re at a pre-diagnostic route with my mother and I found that the advert made me think back to the little deaths I’d previously noticed over the years. And it might help us a family open up a discussion to see if we have each noticed previously ‘little deaths’.

 

[nitram]

Well the first and was bad but the nitram has put a link up to is worse, more Disneymantia than dementia.

Reaction differs between people.
This ad, again by AR not AS, is one that I find effective.

 

[Kevinl]

Now that one I do like. K

 

[nitram]

Now that one I do like. K

Thought you would!
Horses for courses.

Another from the AR 'share the orange' stable