{"id":311541,"date":"2010-02-12T10:37:04","date_gmt":"2010-02-12T15:37:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/careandsupport.direct.gov.uk\/?p=2934"},"modified":"2010-02-12T10:37:04","modified_gmt":"2010-02-12T15:37:04","slug":"information-advice-%e2%80%93-john-major","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/311541","title":{"rendered":"Information & Advice \u2013 John Major"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"John-Major\"<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

John Major has been caring for his wife Helen for the past 14 years.\u00a0 Helen has Alzheimer\u2019s, and John spends a lot of time and energy caring for her, and navigating the system to find helpful information.\u00a0 John is positive about the changes happening in his area, but would like to see further improvements to better join-up services and ensure people get the information they need.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

John first realised something was wrong when Helen, then aged 54, started to have difficulties making decisions and was not coping well with change.\u00a0 She had previously been a matron in a position of responsibility so they knew something was not right.<\/p>\n

\u201cPossibly because of her background, everybody was rather upfront with the diagnosis of Alzheimer\u2019s,\u201d John says.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gradually over time they realised they would not be able to manage the small hotel they owned and ran together.\u00a0 They moved to a one bedroom flat and John became Helen\u2019s full time carer as her condition developed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was feeding her, I suppose physically doing everything for her,\u201d John says.\u00a0 \u201cProgressively she lost her mobility, so I was having to take care of everything.\u00a0 All these things were just kicking in progressively.\u00a0 Allied to the communication problems, she couldn\u2019t take her own weight.\u00a0\u00a0I couldn\u2019t look after her by myself.\u00a0 Everything suddenly became a two-person role.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two years ago, Helen moved into a nursing home. \u00a0John visits his wife every day and has spent a great deal of time and effort over the past fourteen years looking for information and advice about Helen\u2019s condition.\u00a0<\/p>\n

John also plays an active role in the Alzheimer\u2019s Society, giving advice to others about where to go for support, and how to avoid some of the problems the couple faced when Helen was initially diagnosed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact is that in those days the NHS and Social Services were not a seamless service at all.\u00a0 People were left in limbo.\u00a0 There was a total lack of help, of guidance.\u00a0 In those days you were not pointed in the right direction,\u201d says John.<\/p>\n

Left in a financially difficult situation after having to retire early, further challenges were presented in accessing funding for Helen\u2019s care.\u00a0 John found it was up to him to navigate his way through these processes.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one was informing me as to what was required and what we should be doing,\u201d he says.\u00a0 \u201cBut with people now accessing information more easily online about Alzheimer\u2019s, in the last few years you\u2019ve seen dramatic change.\u201d<\/p>\n

John speaks favourably about the National Dementia Strategy and feels it has moved on dramatically.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best thing about the National Dementia Strategy is that appointment of Dementia Advisors,\u201d he says.\u00a0 \u201cThis is an essential role because that person can be the gatekeeper.\u00a0 That is the continuity, the link and I think it would be tremendous.\u00a0 It could save a great deal, and would help people to be able to continue to live in their own homes longer. \u00a0It\u2019s a contact, somebody that they can ring, somebody that can point out services, somebody that can arrange an occupational\u00a0therapist to come in and help, if you\u2019ve got a lifting problem, or if you need some equipment.\u00a0 It\u2019s that link.\u201d<\/p>\n

John also highlights the importance for Alzheimer\u2019s patients to be dealing with familiar people:\u00a0 \u201cThe same district nurse or whatever is so important.\u00a0 Continuity of the social workers is terribly important.\u201d<\/p>\n

John now gives regular talks about caring for Dementia and Alzheimer\u2019s patients through his work for the Alzheimer\u2019s Society in the South West and has visited a number of Primary Care Trusts to speak to them about the Dementia Strategy.\u00a0 He also speaks about the needs of carers as part of local Dementia Awareness training courses.<\/p>\n

In his role with the Alzheimer\u2019s Society, John has realised the enormous amount of information that is available and is keen to see it shared even more widely.\u00a0 He is keen to encourage others to speak out and seek help where it is needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve tried to ensure there are services, and help, and guidance available.\u00a0 There is no shame in recognising the condition, be prepared to seek help.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John Major has been caring for his wife Helen for the past 14 years.\u00a0 Helen has Alzheimer\u2019s, and John spends a lot of time and energy caring for her, and navigating the system to find helpful information.\u00a0 John is positive about the changes happening in his area, but would like to see further improvements to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-311541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=311541"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311541\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=311541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=311541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=311541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}