A Day in the Life #2 – Archie’s Story
The first thing that struck me about Archie was his calm dignity. It shines through in the gentle lilt of his soft Scottish accent.
Of course, there is no dignity in dementia. An estimated 850,000 people in the UK have dementia, and Archie is one of them. Unfortunately, Archie’s dementia has reached an advanced stage.
Archie is a resident at the Park View Care Home located on Blackpool’s South Shore. He has his own room in Park View’s specialist Dementia Wing and receives specialist care from Park View’s exceptional carers.
Dementia is a cruel condition. It is the loss of cognitive functioning — thinking, remembering, and reasoning — to such an extent that it interferes with a person's daily life and activities. Some people with dementia cannot control their emotions, and their personalities may change.
Where Archie is concerned, we are told his core personality hasn’t changed much. He comes across as a mild-mannered gentleman, although he sometimes struggles with the frustration of his memory loss. I saw him stand up and take a few paces before leaning on a chair and saying in his wonderfully soothing voice, ‘Now, why did I do that? What was I doing?’ Seeing Archie like this is quite an emotional experience for the uninitiated. Seeing that self-doubt and confusion seems a horrendously unfair deal for such a wonderful human-being.
Archie was a professional dance teacher in his younger days. Seeing his general demeanour even with dementia makes me believe he will have been a very good and patient teacher.
A few days ago, Archie was taken out on a trip to the Blackpool Ball Room. He stood in the middle of their superb sprung dancefloor next to activities coordinator, Sarah. I was told that a glint of recognition flashed across his eyes as he stood there. And Archie started dancing. Just a few steps, but his moves were technically correct, we believe. He had dug deep into his memory and recalled the dance sequence.
It is not untypical for residents with dementia to remember things from decades ago, while forgetting something that happened minutes earlier. Memory loss is like a bookcase. It is stacked with books of childhood memories from the bottom, with the most recent memories stored at the top. Dementia is a disease that shakes that bookcase. The shelves at the top with the most recent memories move the most and fall off. Archie’s memories of dancing must be nearer the bottom shelf and wobble the least in the nasty mind-shake of dementia. It was wonderful to see Archie dance. For a moment Archie was the man he had been before dementia hit. A return visit to the Ballroom is being planned.
For more information about the condition, please visit: https://www.dementiauk.org/
Article by Kelly Farrington