“Stay active. And social. Get out and about and meet people.” That is the advice given to all those who live with dementia. But just how do you do that when everything is taken away by a pandemic…
We have hosted Alzheimer’s Society dementia café for a good while now. And it is a fantastic place that offers support and meaningful interaction, both for those living with dementia themselves as well as carers.
One of the most popular activities for a couple of the people who attended was table tennis. Seeing the benefit it brought, and to encourage integration with others who were not directly affected by dementia but were perhaps lonely and also enjoyed a game, we started a small table tennis group.
But come lockdown, suddenly, it was gone – along with every other activity that had been on offer. From one day to the next, there was nothing.
Whilst following all the guidelines on social distancing, we also wanted to provide meaningful activities for some of those who had used these services. So over the last couple of months we have restarted table tennis as a reduced activity for a couple of families.
We have also restarted the indoor bowls that we had run last year. This is again currently limited to a small group specifically as a support for those living with dementia though we hope that easing of restrictions will enable us to widen its availability in future. Watch this space!
