Michelle, a visiting carer from our home care Guildford & Godalming branch, provides care for a gentleman with dementia once a week. They don’t do anything particularly special, but she simply helps him to get out and about in the local community to ensure he gets everything he needs. It’s often the little things that make a difference to someone living with dementia, and this is exactly what Michelle does for Martin and his wife. Most importantly, she enables him to retain his independence and always gives him the choice of what he wants to do. Here, she tells us how she spent an afternoon shopping with Martin in late September…
“I visit Martin once a week to give his wife a bit of time to herself. Today, Martin chose to go shopping and buy some clothes. He also chose to go on the bus and we like to walk to the bus stop, so that’s what we did.
“We went into Marks and Spencer’s and brought some clothes and then to Boots to buy toiletries.
“After shopping, we then went to Costa Coffee for some lunch and we had a lovely chat together. We then caught the number 58 bus home, but the great thing about this was that Martin knew which bus to catch and was able to direct me to the bus stop. This was brilliant as he has dementia and I know he struggles with remembering things sometimes.
“We then had a lovely walk home and had a nice cup of coffee whilst we had a catch up with his wife. She was very pleased with how well he had done and so was I.
“I love my job at Helping Hands. I love helping people of all ages and backgrounds and making new relationships and giving people the confidence to know they can do things and make their own choices, as some just like having someone to talk to as well as helping them. The most rewarding thing about my job is seeing people smile after they have achieved something and knowing I have made their life and their family’s life that little bit easier.”
Michelle Mepham – Helping Hands Carer, Guildford & Godalming