A university and a hospital talk

I'm a little late with the write up for both of these talks - sometimes it's hard to find the time to do everything needed in the Peter Berry/Deb Bunt worlds! In fact, I was so busy that I didn't have time to take a photo so I had to ask AI to intervene...room for improvement, methinks.

In late February and then in early March, Peter and I delivered talks to students at Essex University and nursing staff at West Suffolk Hospital respectively. Both of these talks were return visits and I think it's fair to say that both sets of audiences were the recipients of the usual Berry bytes of wisdom.

The key thing to note here is that, as Peter's journey changes, some of the content of his talks change and this is a fascinating way to walk stride by stride with him as he shares what it's like to live with his condition but also what his expectations are of others if they are to support him to live well.

One fascinating topic was discussed: the value of the therapeutic lie and, as far as Peter is concerned, if it's someone's job to support someone with memory impairment, then this clearly must include aligning themselves with that person's reality rather than correcting them. It is not a case of lying to someone; rather it is more the case of stepping into that person's world and understanding that person's perception of life.

Thank you to Mary and to Chelsie for inviting us back to their places of work and for their generosity and hospitality.