Final year nursing student Stephanie Craig writes about her passion for supporting people living with dementia and her involvement in a project to help improve public perception of the disease
People living with dementia face many challenges throughout their illness. One of the biggest challenges relates to public misconceptions about dementia and this can be disempowering.
Just because someone lives with the disease, it doesn’t mean they can’t do things like drive, manage money, or have romantic relationships. As dementia progresses, each person will encounter unique challenges and these can affect people emotionally, physically and practically
Caring for people with dementia is about seeing the person behind the illness
Caring for people with dementia is about seeing the person behind the illness and helping the person to actively live their life in the here and now. It’s also about empowering and facilitating people to take control of what they can still do and provide support for things that are more difficult.
As nursing students, we have first-hand experience of some of the best ways to do this – but not all people living with dementia regularly see nurses or health care professionals. It is therefore very important that family members, carers and the general public have good knowledge about how best to support them.
I am proud to have been involved in a project which seeks to improve public perception of dementia. A key part of the project was developing a free digital game. It aims to help improve society’s awareness so that people with dementia feel empowered, supported and included in their local communities.
I invite you to take a couple of minutes to play our free game
Along with a research team, a gaming company, five other nursing students and my lecturer, we worked alongside seven people living with dementia to co-design the game. My role was to work with all these individuals to help actively decide how the game would look, how it would play and what questions needed to be asked within the game.
To our knowledge this is the first game of its type. It works on any device through a web browser and only takes a few minutes to play. Players answer random questions, from an existing question bank about dementia. The idea is that the more times you play, the more you’ll learn about dementia.
At my university, Queen’s University Belfast, all nursing students are encouraged to play the game in their first year of study. The game has now been played over 3,000 times and research conducted by the university on its impact shows that after playing the game, a person's attitudes to people living with dementia improve.
Whether you are a nursing student, a registered nurse, a health care professional, or a person who looks after someone with dementia, I invite you to take a couple of minutes to play our free game. It might just change how you think about people living with dementia.
Did you know?
Dementia is a term that is used to describe a collection of symptoms including memory loss and problems with reasoning, perception and communication skills. It also leads to a reduction in a person's abilities and skills in carrying out routine activities such as washing, dressing and cooking.
By 2025 it is expected that more than one million people will be living with dementia in the UK.
Dawne Garrett, RCN Professional Lead for Older People and Dementia Care, says: “What a great idea the dementia game is and a clever use of digital education. It’s brilliant to see students so engaged and involved in developing something like this which is easily accessible to benefit all.”
Discover a range of RCN resources on dementia.
Mwanafunzi wa mwaka wa mwisho wa uuguzi Stephanie Craig anaandika juu ya shauku yake ya kusaidia watu wanaoishi na dementia na ushiriki wake katika mradi wa kusaidia kuboresha maoni ya umma juu ya ugonjwa huo. Moja ya changamoto kubwa inahusiana na dhana zisizo za kweli za umma kuhusu dementia na hii inaweza kuwa ya kukata nguvu. Kwa sababu tu mtu anaishi na ugonjwa huo, haimaanishi kwamba hawezi kufanya mambo kama kuendesha gari, kusimamia pesa, au kuwa na mahusiano ya kimapenzi. Kama dementia inaendelea, kila mtu atakutana na changamoto za kipekee na hizi zinaweza kuathiri watu kihisia, kimwili na vitendo, kuwahudumia watu wenye dementia ni juu ya kuona mtu nyuma ya ugonjwa, na kumsaidia mtu kuishi maisha yake hapa na sasa. Pia ni kuhusu kuwezesha na kuwezesha watu kuchukua udhibiti wa kile ambacho bado wanaweza kufanya na kutoa msaada kwa mambo ambayo ni ngumu zaidi. Kama wanafunzi wa uuguzi, tuna uzoefu wa kwanza wa baadhi ya njia bora za kufanya hivyo <unk> lakini si watu wote wanaoishi na dementia mara kwa mara kuona wauguzi au wataalamu wa huduma za afya. Kwa hiyo ni muhimu sana kwamba washiriki wa familia, watunzaji na umma kwa ujumla kuwa na maarifa mazuri kuhusu jinsi bora ya kuwasaidia. Ninajivunia kuwa na kushiriki katika mradi ambao unatafuta kuboresha maoni ya umma juu ya dementia. Sehemu muhimu ya mradi huo ilikuwa kuendeleza mchezo wa dijiti wa bure. Lengo lake ni kusaidia kuboresha ufahamu wa jamii ili watu wenye dementia wahisi kuwa na nguvu, kuungwa mkono na kuingizwa katika jamii zao za mitaa. """Ninawaalika kuchukua dakika chache kucheza mchezo wetu wa bure pamoja na timu ya utafiti, kampuni ya michezo ya kubahatisha, wanafunzi wengine watano wa uuguzi na mhadhiri wangu, tulifanya kazi pamoja na watu saba wanaoishi na dementia ili kuunda mchezo." """Jukumu langu lilikuwa kufanya kazi na watu hawa wote kusaidia kuamua jinsi mchezo utaonekana, jinsi utacheza na maswali gani yanahitaji kuulizwa ndani ya mchezo." Kwa habari yetu hii ni mchezo wa kwanza wa aina yake. Inafanya kazi kwenye kifaa chochote kupitia kivinjari cha wavuti na inachukua dakika chache tu kucheza. Wachezaji kujibu maswali random, kutoka benki ya maswali iliyopo kuhusu dementia. Wazo ni kwamba kadiri unavyocheza mara nyingi, ndivyo utakavyojifunza mengi kuhusu ugonjwa wa akili. Katika chuo kikuu changu, Chuo Kikuu cha Malkia cha Belfast, wanafunzi wote wa uuguzi wanahimizwa kucheza mchezo huo katika mwaka wao wa kwanza wa masomo. Mchezo huo umechezwa mara zaidi ya 3,000 na utafiti uliofanywa na chuo kikuu juu ya athari zake unaonyesha kwamba baada ya kucheza mchezo huo, mtazamo wa mtu kwa watu wanaoishi na dementia unaboresha. Kama wewe ni mwanafunzi wa uuguzi, msaidizi wa afya, mtaalamu wa huduma za afya, au mtu ambaye anajali mtu na dementia, mimi kukukaribisha kuchukua dakika chache kucheza mchezo wetu bure. Hii inaweza kubadilisha jinsi unavyofikiria watu wanaoishi na dementia. Je, ulijua? Dementia ni neno linalotumika kuelezea mkusanyiko wa dalili, ikiwa ni pamoja na kupoteza kumbukumbu na matatizo na sababu, utambuzi na ujuzi wa mawasiliano. Pia huathiri uwezo wa mtu wa kufanya kazi za kawaida kama vile kuosha nguo na kupika. Kufikia mwaka 2025 inatarajiwa kuwa zaidi ya watu milioni moja wataishi na dementia nchini Uingereza. "Dawne Garrett, kiongozi wa kitaalamu wa RCN kwa Wazee na Utunzaji wa Dementia, anasema: ""Ni wazo zuri sana la mchezo wa dementia na matumizi ya busara ya elimu ya dijiti." Ni brilliant kuona wanafunzi hivyo kushiriki na kushiriki katika kuendeleza kitu kama hiki ambayo ni rahisi kupatikana kwa manufaa ya wote. Kugundua mbalimbali ya rasilimali RCN juu ya dementia.