Back on track

The journal of the British International Doctor’s Association (https://www.bidaonline.org/) invited a paper on my work which I am thrilled to say has just been published. BIDA was established in 1975 and is the oldest organisation representing international doctors in the UK.

I met the journal’s editor, Mr Amit Sinha MB (Hons) MS FRCS, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon, at a Health Mela in Preston earlier this year.

For a bit of context, the Health Melas began in 2001 at the Gujarat Hindu Society (GHS) Centre in Preston. It was then known as the Lancashire Gujarat Health Users’ Forum but it changed its name in 2012 to reflect its growing national profile. Now based at Bolton University’s Centre for Research in Health and Wellbeing, the National Forum for Health and Wellbeing (https://nfhw.org.uk/nfhw/) was established by health care professionals and users of regional health services to give people better access to appropriate, high quality health care services.

I regularly present a Dementia Pioneers table at Health Melas on the topics of dementia prevention – and more recently on root causes of (and recovery from) symptoms known as dementia. Below is one of my earliest Health Melas. To my left is Prof Romesh Gupta (Trustee and Chair of the NFHW) and Lyndsay Hoyle (Chorley MP, now Speaker of the House).

The photo on this blog’s Home page was taken at this year’s Health Mela where I met BIDA Editor Mr Amit Sinha.

In the article I highlight 1. What’s possible, 2. What’s practical and 3. What’s available, drawing from published research on dementia recovery, as well as original research I carried out with caregivers, service users and healthcare professionals in NW England. This research was published here https://www.lidsen.com/journals/geriatrics/geriatrics-04-01-102 . Below is a graphical abstract of the article.

From the BIDA article, here is a summary of What’s available:

1. Leaflets and Handouts Non-drug Ways to Brain Health:
   Body, Mind and Soul and The ABC’s of Prevention plus many
   more free PDF downloads (www.chalfontdesign.com)
2. Blog Dementia Pioneers Blog (www.dementiapioneers.uk)
   raises awareness of the root causes of dementia and empowers people to address them. Downloads of previous talks.
3. Workshop Series “Contributors of Dementia and How to Address Them” These 4 workshops are now available online by donation (https://payhip.com/b/o7Eq2). This series was a collaboration between Dementia Pioneers CIC (www.dementiapioneers.uk) and the People’s Health Alliance CIC (https://the-pha.org/).
4. Website on Nature-Dementia-Design Books, Papers, Downloads (www.chalfontdesign.com)
5. Empowering Health Workshops were designed and conducted in Tameside in collaboration with Dipak Dristi CIO (Light of Vision) for their volunteers using a ‘train the trainer’ approach. (https://www.actiontogether.org.uk/community-activities/community-activity-directory/104182).
6. Based on the extensive research of Prof Bredesen and his team, Alzheimer’s prevention and treatment are now being offered online for those able to fund their own care and support (http://www.ApolloHealthco.com). Based in the US with practitioners and health coaches globally

I am grateful indeed to the BIDA for publishing this paper which sets out a progressive and comprehensive agenda for further work in this field. I look forward to collaborating with local GP practitioners who are open to integrating Group Health Coaching sessions from the Dementia Pioneers CIC. Please reach out if you would like to have a conversation on this topic. I can be reached by email at dementiapioneers@proton.me.