Dear All
Today my wife Janice and I went to an event in Newcastle upon Tyne, which was run by a Government Agency with the view of setting up a fitness scheme for people with mental illness.
After listening to the comments for some time, we decided to explain a few facts to the people who thought they knew everything about mental illness, which now includes dementia, and there reaction was hard to believe.
As far as they were concerned it was a good idea to get people with the illness to go to things such as the gym, so that they could remain fit for as longs as possible, which in principal is a good idea, until you really look into a person with dementia, and I speak from experience.
Some time ago I was told by my GP that it would be good if I could loose a few pounds in weight, and we then decided that I should be refered to our local gym.
The first day was for the induction, which went well until I came to the tread mill, and after about 4 minutes, I fell off the back, which caused a few laughs. This happened again, so I moved onto the next item, as the instructor did not see the funny side and thought that I was fooling around.(This was after the induction, when he had been told that I had Lewy Body Dementia).The problem being that those of us with the illness know, that trying to remember things over a certain period can be very hard, especially while trying to concentrate on doing a task.
The next time I went to the gym, I was left to my own devises, and things went from bad to worse, as I had forgotten all that I had been told on my first visit, and there was no one willing to go through the induction again, or willing to write it down so that I could follow it.
I paid another two visits and then I realised that my life at the gym was a waste of time and money, as well as the fact that as a person with dementia, I was a complete liability in a gym.
I explained this today, and then I was asked why I had forgotten everything that I had been told at the induction, so I said that was because I had dementia, and the instructor had been informed about this in the first place, but there was no provision for the training course to be written out on a card so that it could be followed at a later date.
I do wonder how many people remember what they did at an induction like that, when you consider that you use a peice of equipment for so long, at a certain speed, and then move onto something else doing the same thing, while moving the seats to fit you as you go.
To me it was a nightmare that I chose to walk away from and forget. But to these officials it seemed to be something else, as if it was all my fault that I had forgotten everything, or done it on purpose.
Surely at an induction, the course should be printed on a card
which could be carried around and followed by everyone, because like it or not, there are thousands of us with memory problems.
I live in hope, I think going for a walk is much easier.
Best Wishes
Ken
Today my wife Janice and I went to an event in Newcastle upon Tyne, which was run by a Government Agency with the view of setting up a fitness scheme for people with mental illness.
After listening to the comments for some time, we decided to explain a few facts to the people who thought they knew everything about mental illness, which now includes dementia, and there reaction was hard to believe.
As far as they were concerned it was a good idea to get people with the illness to go to things such as the gym, so that they could remain fit for as longs as possible, which in principal is a good idea, until you really look into a person with dementia, and I speak from experience.
Some time ago I was told by my GP that it would be good if I could loose a few pounds in weight, and we then decided that I should be refered to our local gym.
The first day was for the induction, which went well until I came to the tread mill, and after about 4 minutes, I fell off the back, which caused a few laughs. This happened again, so I moved onto the next item, as the instructor did not see the funny side and thought that I was fooling around.(This was after the induction, when he had been told that I had Lewy Body Dementia).The problem being that those of us with the illness know, that trying to remember things over a certain period can be very hard, especially while trying to concentrate on doing a task.
The next time I went to the gym, I was left to my own devises, and things went from bad to worse, as I had forgotten all that I had been told on my first visit, and there was no one willing to go through the induction again, or willing to write it down so that I could follow it.
I paid another two visits and then I realised that my life at the gym was a waste of time and money, as well as the fact that as a person with dementia, I was a complete liability in a gym.
I explained this today, and then I was asked why I had forgotten everything that I had been told at the induction, so I said that was because I had dementia, and the instructor had been informed about this in the first place, but there was no provision for the training course to be written out on a card so that it could be followed at a later date.
I do wonder how many people remember what they did at an induction like that, when you consider that you use a peice of equipment for so long, at a certain speed, and then move onto something else doing the same thing, while moving the seats to fit you as you go.
To me it was a nightmare that I chose to walk away from and forget. But to these officials it seemed to be something else, as if it was all my fault that I had forgotten everything, or done it on purpose.
Surely at an induction, the course should be printed on a card
which could be carried around and followed by everyone, because like it or not, there are thousands of us with memory problems.
I live in hope, I think going for a walk is much easier.
Best Wishes
Ken
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