Alzheimer’s is no longer the word no one will say, but the fight is only just beginning

Dementia care features in a BBC documentary presented by Paul O'Grady

For so long a taboo subject, like cancer once was, the condition is put under the spotlight in Paul O’Grady’s BBC1 show The Sally Army And Me, which screens tonight and focuses on the Eva Burrows Centre in Cambuslang.

Because some people are doing more than talking about it. Two organisations in Scotland have added specialist care to their services after members were affected by dementia.

The Salvation Army in Cambuslang and Inverness branch of the Royal British Legion Scotland now offer support to people with dementia and their families, in addition to the provisions already available.

Today, we meet two people involved in the services at both charities and hear the very personal reasons behind their work.

Sandra Sneddon: ‘I know how they feel because I walk in those shoes every day’

Sandra Sneddon, manager at the Salvation Army's Eva Burrows day care centre for Dementia (Andrew Cawley / DC Thomson) — Sandra Sneddon, manager at the Salvation Army’s Eva Burrows day care centre for Dementia (Andrew Cawley / DC Thomson)

EACH working day Sandra Sneddon helps make things better for people with dementia at a Salvation Army day care centre.

The Eva Burrows Centre, in Cambuslang near Glasgow, has won national awards for its care and Sandra has been honoured for her management of it.

The reputation is such that it was chosen to feature in BBC1 series, Paul O’Grady: The Sally Army And Me, with tonight’s episode highlighting his time there as a volunteer.

However, Sandra’s dementia care doesn’t end when she clocks off at the end of her shift.

Her dad Dougie, 81, has Alzheimer’s and Sandra’s day starts and ends with looking after him.

It’s nine years since the diagnosis that she knew would forever change life with the man who was always there for her. And it couldn’t have come at a tougher time.

“My mum Margaret was actually fighting bowel cancer and was in hospital for months,” says Sandra, who turns 54 today.

“I was so busy running back and forwards I didn’t notice the changes in him. It was Mum’s consultant who spotted he seemed to be getting a bit forgetful and arranged a brain scan that spotted Alzheimer’s.

“Even though I was working with people with dementia I think I was too close and couldn’t see the wood for the trees.”

Margaret battled on for five years before losing her fight. And Sandra had her own fight when she, too, was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2010.

Thankfully, after three operations and several chemotherapy sessions, she’s now in remission.

Through it all she has been there for Dougie.

“He played junior football when he was young and was a great golfer – well, maybe not a great player but really keen,” smiles Sandra, as she recalls the days before Alzheimer’s took its toll.

But that toll has become increasingly evident.

And it has had a massive impact on Sandra, husband Colin and their three grown-up kids, Nicola, Lauren and Mark, who all help with care.

“I’ll go in before 6am and then carers come in during the day, before we have him at our house in the evening.

“We also have Alzheimer Scotland come in a couple of afternoons a week.

“I can still see my dad there but it’s becoming buried deeper and deeper. Although I can have a conversation with him about what’s on the news I know he’ll have forgotten it five minutes later.

“We only live minutes away from each other in Cambusnethan and he can be at our door several times through the night. He gets confused, forgets Mum’s dead and worries she hasn’t come home from the bingo.”

The Eva Burrows Centre has various initiatives, including a reminiscence room furnished like a typical living room from the 1940s. It’s designed to calm users by tapping into memories from their past.

And Sandra says living with dementia 24 hours a day has benefits at home and at work.

“The whole family use things I have learned at the centre,” says Sandra.

“And I always use my experiences with my dad when I’m with either dementia patients or their carers.

“I can honestly say I know how they feel and what they’re going through because I walk in those shoes every day.”

Sandra says she was hugely impressed by Paul O’Grady’s caring attitude.

“He made everyone feel good. He spent time with each person and was like a friend they’d known for a long time.

“It was a lot of fun but also emotional at times.”

Paul O’Grady: The Sally Army And Me, BBC1, today, 6pm.

Joe Davidson: ‘There’s a stigma attached, so it’s important we talk’

Joe Davidson, who works with the British legion to help those with dementia

“I HAD no real knowledge of dementia until a few years ago,” admits Joseph Davidson, branch president of the Royal British Legion Scotland’s Inverness branch.

“But then I noticed a close pal of mine of more than 40 years was becoming affected.

“I took him to the doctor and I wasn’t impressed. The doctor was treating him like he was daft and a non-emergency.

“He also lost his wife to the illness, although it took years for the actual word to be used whenever anyone talked about her condition.

“It was like cancer years ago – no one would say the word.

“His mother, a great golfing friend of my wife, was also eventually diagnosed with it.”

Keen to support his pal in any way he could, Joseph, formerly of the RAF Regiment, visited a dementia resource centre in Inverness and discovered a number of veterans there.

“There were 12 veterans with dementia and a further four who were carers for people with dementia, and they were all struggling for support,” he said.

Joseph was keen to help and successfully applied to the Libor funding scheme, where fines levied on banks are given to military-related good causes, and was awarded £14,000 to be used towards respite care for veterans and their families who are affected by dementia in the area.

“We’re playing it loose as to what form the respite care will take, depending on each case.

“We’ll go out and visit the applicant and see what would be best – it might be the most helpful respite is getting a cleaner coming to their house for a couple of days a week, while maybe a long weekend away would be more suitable for someone else.

“This isn’t something that’s going away, so our branch office will continue to support it going forward once the Libor funding is finished.”

His old friend is now receiving assistance through the scheme and Joseph hopes many more will follow in his footsteps in the coming months and years.

“I think we’re the only RBLS branch that is able to offer this help and we’re also involved with NHS Highland, which is in the process of setting up a Veterans 1st Point Centre here in Inverness.”

He added: “Maybe there’s still a bit of a stigma attached.

“But the countryside is awash with it here and it’s important we talk.”