Christopher Manthorp:Dementia needs to be recognised as a disease like cancer, be treated free at the point of delivery, and receive the appropriate resources
What works for us works for people with dementia, too
Christopher Manthorp: When dealing with a day where everything goes wrong, the strategies that work for us, such as laughing, work for people with dementia too. They just need a little more help locating them
There should be no hiding from death, even as it nears
The national minimum standards, an important cornerstone of the legal framework for older people's care, cheerily insist that residential and nursing homes ask residents on admission about their death
Nothing but the best will do - and that's how it should be
Anyone who has worked in managing residential care for older people will tell you that it's not the residents who make it such a difficult job. No, if you don't count the staff, it's the relatives.
The secret to preventing dementia? Exercise restraint
Christopher Manthorp: In my younger days, going on holiday meant tucking a toothbrush behind my ear, loading up on red wine for emergencies, and arriving at the airport with a millisecond to spare.
The caring profession needs its own health warning
Christopher Manthorp
Christopher Manthorp: Apparently a glass of white wine a day is practically a guarantee that you'll never suffer from dementia, or at least the odds shrink significantly.
Christopher Manthorp: See that weeping, shambling spectre lumbering towards you, Gordon, rattling its chains and growing larger by the minute? That's dementia, that is. And it's coming to get you.
Christopher Manthorp: I have, in my time, made some batty decisions, such as joyous credit card splurges, 95% of my haircuts before they ceased to be an option, and a brief-lived experiment with halves of lager rather than pints.
