Title: Pushing boundaries and mindsets-caring through dementia

Biography:

Michelle Macadangdang is a Registered Nurse with a BSc in Health and Learning Disabilities from the University of Greenwich in the United Kingdom. She owns a small home for people with learning disabilities as well as working as a Regional Director overseeing operations for just over 400 beds in the South of England for a medium sized care operator. She has written the book “Be Somebody” empowering individuals to achieve their dreams. As well as being a care professional, her first hand experience is very personal as her husband was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia at the age of 46 in October 2016. She has a young family with two children age 14 and 9 and her account of dementia is from a personal level as well as professional.

Abstract

Around 5% of the 850,000 people diagnosed with dementia are individuals diagnosed with early onset dementia and it is Murphy’s law that my husband happens to be one of the small percentage of individuals (1) Dementia does not discriminate and affects any person, any race, culture, religion, political affiliation (2). It affects everyone, young and old. My experience as a nurse spans 26 years. All the time and experience that I have gained in nursing and caring as a professional can never prepare you for the personal experience of caring for a loved one with dementia. This session gives a brief personal account of Michelle’s personal experience in caring for her husband who was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia at the age of 45. It will show her children, age 9 and 14 have had to grow up beyond their years, how their roles have reversed from being kids that are looked after by two parents to caring for their dad. It aims to to help carers prepare for what is ahead; looking at both the professional and personal perspective giving practical solutions, pushing personal values and boundaries, challenge mindsets of nursing care and dealing with acceptance and even grief even when your loved one is still alive and also find the balance of still being an individual as well as a carer.