When you put out the wheelie bins for the bin men where do you put them? Against the kerb or against the property side? For those of us who are visually impaired, or have trouble walking, the best place is against the property side. This is so we can guide ourselves using the kerb. With a white stick, it tells the used where the kerb is and is how we are trained to use it. Binmen themselves are bad at this: just a little chat at a staff meeting could,change this. Not much to ask.

There are 99,000 people with dementia in Scotland. Each and everyone has a different journey and story to tell. We all have different needs and wishes for our care and support. We should all have individual, to us, care plans expressing those needs and wishes. However, having worked with care plans I know that, through no fault of their own, the compilers work within a set framework for choices etc. Not all the compilers know the different types of dementia and their different support needs. Even then, people with the same type might need different support. To use me as an example, with my PCA, I cannot cope with bright colours for long, however the current thinking is to have bright colours in dementia units, go figure. Other people with PCA can travel well, I can’t.

I realise there can’t be 99,000 different care types, however the care providers should listen to the person with dementia, or their carers. It is not rocket science.

This post raises other questions that I will return to; listening to people with dementia, and the fact that there should be individual care plans. I will return to these in other blogs.