Dementia Heroes

May 2, 2023

Alzheimer’s Society’s 2023 Dementia Hero Awards took place on 28th April, and recognised and celebrated the involvement and participation of people affected by dementia in activities and projects, focussing on engagement within their own communities. Tunstall Healthcare was proud to sponsor the Outstanding Achievement category, and Clinical Lead Dawn Watson helped to judge the nominations. She tells us more. I really loved being involved in the Dementia Hero Awards. It’s such a special thing to do; so moving and inspiring. Having said that I also found it difficult, as there are so many people out there making a difference to people with dementia and those around them, which made it extremely challenging to choose a winner. Nine nominations were shortlisted in the category, and every single one of them was amazing to read. People are doing some really incredible and selfless things. Entries were from individuals, groups and organisations so it made it even harder to choose as they were all doing wonderful things but in such different ways. I ended up reading each entry at least five times, and then finally tried to score them against the criteria we were given, from one to five with five being the highest.

The other three judges and I came together in a virtual meeting chaired by a lead from Alzheimer’s Society to discuss our thoughts. Our scores were averaged, and from there we chose three finalists before narrowing it down to the overall winner.

There was a strong consensus that the winning entry had exceeded the criteria, really championing for people living with Alzheimer’s and making a tangible and positive difference. Eamonn Dobbyn, Paul Harvey and Tim Little work together on a voluntary basis to transform the lives and future of others with dementia. They do this because they have personally experienced what it means to live with dementia and been brutally honest about the impact that getting a dementia diagnosis in their forties had on them. They give their time and energy to making a difference and continually work to find new ways to raise awareness.

Eamonn, Paul and Tim have engaged professional's hearts and minds. They have been involved in consultations with commissioners which helped to secure £80k in funding to help them co-design and deliver their vision of a peer support service, something they are all actively involved in. This also resulted in changing the diagnosis pathway in Essex. They’ve also worked with Mid Essex’s Clinical Commissioning Group to help it identify gaps in its services, leading to the re-development of the young onset diagnosis service in Essex, which is now piloting a Memory Assessment service with clinics specifically for those under 65. Their efforts have also resulted in influencing how training and manuals for professionals have been adapted to become more dementia friendly, and helping clinicians to better understand the impact of delayed diagnosis.

Through the peer support service, people who have just been diagnosed are able to speak to someone with lived experience, meaning they can get help from someone who truly understands what they are going through and therefore provide really important help.

Together, they have given their time and energy to making a difference by being generous enough to share their own experiences, including the darker moments, to help services to provide the best possible support and demonstrate to others how it is possible to live with purpose and hope with a dementia diagnosis.

It really was an honour to be involved, and being able to attend the awards ceremony and hear first-hand about people’s diverse experiences and how they are working to help each other is something I feel privileged to have witnessed.