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Dementia Buddy Volunteer

The Good Shepherd Home

Logo for The Good Shepherd Home

There are several aspects of care and support that occur as people age and enter residential facilities. One of these areas that are particularly at the forefront is dementia.

To this end The Good Shepherd Home has made the decision to add specialised areas to the volunteering program.

Dementia care is a specialised area that deals with people as they lose their short term memory and relate to those parts of their life that are in the past, many of which are happy and some of which are challenging to remember.

Being a volunteer in a dementia setting includes and is not limited to:

  • Having a flexible disposition as the topic of conversation or behaviour of the resident may vary significantly and quickly
  • Being able to hold a conversation based on a wide knowledge of different subjects
  • Allowing the resident to, at times, reiterate a story that is unconvincing or impossible to have occurred, during their reminiscence
  • Living in the residents’ world, whether fantasy or reality
  • Understanding that there are many facets to a person’s reality and being able to “go with it”, be it a behaviour based or verbal experience
  • Understanding the concepts of reality orientation and validation within the scope of the residents reality
  • Enjoying completing activities and task related choices of the resident
  • Working collaboratively with the Leisure and Lifestyle Officers and other staff

This is a meaningful and rewarding experience in its own right. It is based on flexibility and being accepting.

If this is of interest to you we would love to hear from you.