Psychology Undergraduate Lara Stembridge and Keith Oliver (member of the community with dementia) co-presented a talk at the National Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care Show.
As a result of her successful placement year, Lara decided to stay on as a volunteer with the NHS. ‘I enjoyed it so much. This enjoyment is often highlighted by events such as the opportunity I was given to present alongside a Dementia Envoy at the Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care Show this year in London.’
On Friday 3rd March Lara Stembridge co-presented her talk with Keith Oliver, Alzheimer’s Society Ambassador & KMPT NHS Dementia Envoy.
‘This is probably the third biggest dementia event in Europe and as far as I am aware this is the first time in its ten year history an undergraduate has spoken there on the main stage!! To a packed theatre audience we have them a talk about the last ten years of developments in dementia.’
‘Keith and I had worked on previous projects together and utilised this trust we had built to create a really new and interesting talk. The talk’s title was ‘The Dementia Landscape 10 years on’, and Keith proposed that we did the speech as a double act, asking each other questions on the stage!! I think this intergenerational way of presenting was immediately acknowledged to be poignant as we started our speech discussing how 10 years ago, both of us were moving on from primary school, I onto secondary school and Keith (from being a headteacher) onto something different. Although I was hesitant as I had never experienced public speaking before to this extent (as Keith had jokingly told me we would be presenting to an audience of 900), I found this experience incredibly rewarding and value the opportunity to speak alongside someone like Keith who has such a prominent presence in the dementia world.
‘Keith was a driving force in this education and has inspired me in both my work and personal life, due to his passion, dedication and devotion to sharing that dementia does not mean the end. I am honoured to be on this stage alongside him and look forward to carrying this message with me in the future.’
So, how did this collaboration come about? ‘During the past 18 months I have been privileged to enjoy the support of four very good University of Kent psychology undergraduates, one of whom Lara has been outstanding when asked to collaborate with me on some major projects.’ Keith explains ‘Lara supported my attendance at the World Alzheimer’s conference in London in June 2022, and followed this in November 2022 by speaking with me, a clinical psychologist and another student, Millie at the UK Dementia Congress’
‘By now I was totally confident travelling and co-creating work with Lara so when I was offered the chance of a key note speech at this year’s Alzheimer’s Dementia Care Show in London I immediately asked Lara if we could write and present a joint intergenerational presentation to a large national audience about dementia care and our lives over the past 10 years. The talk was a massive success, the theatre was packed with standing room only – the largest audience I have addressed though I have spoken there 4 times before. Because of Lara’s support I felt totally at ease throughout the day and it was a real thrill to share the stage with her.
During the show, Keith asked Lara, ‘Focusing upon your placement year, can you think of 2 or 3 elements to that year that one would call training and would best prepare you to work with people with dementia?’
Lara responded with, ‘As my placement was based in the NHS, we were required to carry out specific training courses catered to older adults, however I also completed the dementia friends course which is available to everyone and fully accessible, so I think this is a quick and easy option for people to educate themselves on dementia, rather than designated courses. Especially as a large number of people in the general public are affected by dementia whether this be directly or indirectly, therefore this is a really good alternative. I also think that large organisations or places such as cinemas, shopping centres etc should also be trained in this as dementia is often presented as a difficult thing to help someone with, however simple acts can just make these experiences easier for people living with dementia. Designers of new buildings should also consider inviting groups of people with dementia to make suggestions to ensure the buildings are dementia friendly.’
‘I am currently finishing my final year at university, but I hope to work with older adults in the future.’
‘I know that often the Older Adult population can be overlooked, and my placement has shown me that there is absolutely NO reason for this.’
‘The people I’ve worked with in the short time of my placement have achieved some incredible things and I would love to continue to be a part of these and hopefully many more events to come. As I am drawing closer to the end of my university course, I know experiences like these are ones I will always remember and treasure, and I look forward to future events where awareness for dementia can be increased and stigma tackled.’
‘I completed my placement at Kent and Medway Partnership Trust (KMPT) working within a multi-disciplinary team of professionals in an Older Adults setting. This really gave me an insight into how many multi-faceted roles these teams consist of, and how hard each of them work to give patients the best possible care. One of my primary roles involved working closely with a service user group called the Forget Me Nots, a group of people with dementia and professionals who aim to change the stigma around dementia. I worked alongside other students to organise, prepare, minute and support members at these meetings. This group recently celebrated their 10th Birthday and they, alongside professionals, threw a memorable event called ‘Living Together with Dementia’ which was the first to feature in the Canterbury Festival that centred around dementia. It was a huge success offering free activities and resources to support people in the community. ‘
‘Being a part of the working group for this event was definitely one of my proudest achievements whilst on placement and most memorably for me was the moment we were able to connect with someone who hadn’t been out of the house in 2 years due to the pandemic. Our event had given her the confidence to re-engage in things she didn’t think she was able to do anymore due to her dementia diagnosis. Other tasks included small admin jobs, attending meetings and shadowing the aforementioned professionals- I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to shadow an Occupational therapist, a Clinical Psychologist, a Counselling Psychologist, Assistant Psychologist, a Consultant and an Admiral Nurse, among others. I particularly enjoyed the patient involvement element of my placement and I left feeling genuinely inspired by the people I worked with. It definitely taught me that dementia doesn’t have to mean the end and people with dementia can achieve amazing things.’
‘I would really encourage anyone who has the opportunity to do a placement year to take it and immerse yourself in any and all opportunities you are given. My placement often encouraged me to do tasks out of my comfort zone but these seemingly scary tasks at the time are actually the ones that carry the most meaning and have contributed to both my personal and professional development.’
I was fortunate enough to gain the opportunity to co-write an essay in the World Alzheimer’s Report 2022, on ‘Living to the best of one’s ability’ which you can read here.’
Lara is studying for a BSc (Hons) Psychology with Clinical Psychology and a Placement year.