ELECTROMECÁNICOS

activities enabled them to continue activities they enjoyed, that was meaningful to them and helped them to keep positive about life, whilst socialising with other people living with dementia. Alice attended Singing for the Brain, an activity she enjoyed:

Alice: ‘We go singing for the brain. So, it’s a club you go to and they sing?’ Alice’s Husband: ‘They sing to get your brain focused’.

Alice: ‘And have a cup of tea when you’ve finished, and the people are nice’. Researcher: ‘And you find they’re very supportive?’

Alice enjoyed singing and Singing for the Brain was a relaxed setting for her, which helped her to enhance her communication skills. Beverley attended a sewing group and re-gained skills she had forgotten:

Beverley: ‘…sewing group’.

Researcher: ‘Tell me a bit about that.’

Beverley: ‘If you sit there just for a minute I can show you’. Researcher: ‘You made this? This is crochet, isn’t it?’ Beverley: ‘Yes’.

Researcher: ‘That’s very nice. Did you learn this at the group?’ Beverley: ‘I just go to start to knit’.

Beverley’s daughter: ‘Mum used to do it before, but she seemed to have forgotten how

to do it but now she has regained’.

Researcher: ‘So when did you start going to this group then?’

Beverley: ‘It’s not very long…January I think…I just do it. I see somebody knitting and

it just come in my head and I start to knit it as well. It was very hard the first time to get along with it. What was hard...To knit, to remember’.

This group has been very beneficial for Beverly and helped her maintain her functional skills for longer. Catherine attended a cultural day centre three times a week specifically for individuals of Black ethnicity living with dementia, where she took part in various activities. This was explained by her consultee, her daughter:

Catherine’s daughter: ‘you know services to meet our needs, because mum really likes

to sing, and she likes knitting and sewing, she goes to the centre three times a week, one day she is with me on Fridays, and the other three days she is at home, with the carers coming in. but there isn’t much else, she did try another day centre but she did not get on with the people there, this centre…’

Catherine’s daughter: ‘Yes she likes it there and is happy going there she does the

exercises when she is well…yes, mum. They also have the pastor come in for service...Or she can just watch TV and watch old films and listen to church music… mum likes to sing, but it took a long time to find this centre, and mum misses home’.

Destiny attended the Dementia Café. This was a way for her of keeping connected with other people living with dementia as well as access to dementia education, information and support:

Researcher: ‘What do you do at the group’?

Destiny: ‘Yes, I go to the Monthly Dementia Café it’s for people with dementia, their

families and carers, it’s once a month and you also get a nice lunch and there are different speakers and activities’.

Destiny’s daughter: ‘She also attends the day clubs, the nurse helped her to access

The Dementia Support day clubs for people with dementia. A hot meal and social activities are provided at the club, she goes from 10.00am-2.30pm and a small charge is made to cover lunch. The club is at XX House on Monday or Wednesday, transport picks her up. The Support workers from the dementia support team run free afternoon clubs with social activities for people with dementia, she likes the reading and singing! She can also watch films and listen to audio books, she has one friend there who also goes to church, so it is working out ok’.

Francis attended a similar day centre and Cafe:

Francis: ‘I get ready to be picked up the transport comes at 10am, I go on Monday and

I have my lunch there …I go to the centre, where I do some Quizzes & Puzzles, I see my friend there, and we have a chat….’

Researcher: ‘Is that the only place you go…?’

Francis: ‘No no on Tuesdays once a month I go to Café and we sing songs different

activities, like the craft, different speakers and a lunch’

On gaining a dementia diagnosis, Edward realised his passion for helping other people living with dementia. He became quite involved with Dementia Associations taking part in dementia- related interview panels, meeting the Prime Minister and participating in computer lessons. He did not wish to be pitied, instead:

‘I don’t say I have dementia and you look after me and all these things, I like to look after myself and if I’m not capable of handling myself I will say to myself what’s the point of being here really, if you try, you try again and if you cannot succeed you have to give up, but I don’t like to give up, I am always determined to carry on’.

Researcher: ‘It sounds like you’re living quite well with dementia, you’ve found ways to

cope, little ways to help you cope, but you are very active, trying to keep yourself busy’.

Edward: ‘The activities of myself, I believe that’s what keeps me going because as I

mentioned in the past, when I was still young, the NHS wanted to put me on disabled and I turned it down and I went on exercise and I went back to work and earned wages without having to live with subsidies and things like that…..as I’ve mentioned I am determined to carry on, the dementia is a big obstacle, if you are determined you will not be able to reach there, but you will go halfway’.

The participants in this study were recruited via dementia-related groups and activities. As such, they were participants who positively engaged with dementia support services. Therefore, it is important to acknowledge that not all individuals of Black ethnicity engage with these activities; however, for this group of participants this was a coping mechanism and helped the participants understand their lives with dementia.

4.6.5 Importance of immediate family support: Family was often not only important to the