Hucknall woman whose husband has dementia shares her story and encourages people with similar experiences to take part in survey

A woman from Hucknall whose husband was diagnosed with dementia has shared her experience and the impact the illness has had on her life.

Christine Eagle, 71 saw her husband, Arthur, 74, diagnosed with dementia in 2019 and had been caring for him until recently when she made the difficult decision for him to go into a care home.

She said: "He had some symptoms but I just thought he was getting older. It started with repeating anecdotes to friends and then he started to lose his sense of direction.

"It all built up and so we went to the GP where we were told to keep a diary. We were referred to the memory clinic who diagnosed Arthur after doing cognitive tests.

"I think it was a struggle to accept the diagnosis and there was almost a denial. Before the pandemic we would still do everyday activities like going to the cinema or out for lunch but it slowly became harder, especially during lockdown."

Christine hopes that by sharing her story it will encourage others to share their own and help shape the future of dementia care in the county of Nottinghamshire.

Christine found a lot of online support during the pandemic. However, she says that she thinks the best support will always be face-to-face.

Over the last two years, the couple have used local services for support such as dementia choirs, cognitive therapy as well as lots of local groups, meetings, and day centres.

Christine added: "I filled out a survey on my experience in order to help shape the future care in Nottinghamshire. I will always do anything I can to provide feedback or research as anything I can do to help the future, or potentially make things easier and find a cure, can only be a good thing."

Work is currently underway to examine and evaluate the service provision for the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Dementia Well Pathway.

As part of this work carried out by Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Clinical Commissioning Groups and Integrated care systems, a period of engagement is taking place to help understand how the service can be improved. This began on the 17th May and runs until the 16th July 2021. It aims to understand the experiences of all those living with Dementia in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.

You can find out more about how you can share your views here .