Blog Archives - Page 7 of 49

World Alzheimer’s Day: Touchstone’s BME Dementia Service and Support for BME People Living with Dementia

This World Alzheimers’ Month, Touchstone’s BME Dementia Service, in its 10th year, has some vital words on the importance of BME-specific support for those living with dementia and some advice on how to find support. This year marks the 10th year of Touchstone’s BME Dementia Service. As a part of marking this milestone, we featured on ITV Calendar in August to call for more funding for BME-specific support and

2022-09-21T10:20:33+01:0021st September 2022|Blog, Dementia, World Alzheimer's Month|

Lived Experiences of Hypermobile Spectrum disorder and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome

This blog is written by: Marion Holloway (she/her) who has hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and autism; and Ruth Armitage (they/them) who has hypermobile spectrum disorder and dyspraxia. Marion and Ruth both work in the LMWS Inclusion Team at Touchstone. What is hypermobile spectrum disorder? A hypermobile joint extends beyond the typical range of movement. In some people this is not a problem, in others it causes problematic symptoms such as

2022-09-15T14:47:54+01:0015th September 2022|Blog, Disability Awareness|

World Suicide Prevention Day: Crisis Support in the Local Area

To mark World Suicide Prevention Day, our Touchstone colleague Laura has shared some key information on suicide in West Yorkshire and how to get support for anyone struggling with their mental health. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows that suicide is more common in West Yorkshire than in England as a whole: 235 deaths registered by coroners as suicides in West Yorkshire in 2020, with an average of

2024-06-21T15:18:43+01:009th September 2022|Blog, Mental Health, Suicide, World Suicide Prevention Day|

I’m Trans and My Dad Has Dementia

For World Alzheimer's Month, Touchstone's Co-production Lead for the Complex Rehabilitation Project, Tristan, has written a moving piece on his relationship with his Dad, who is living with dementia. My Dad has Dementia. He was about 53 years old when he was diagnosed, I was devastated. I felt like my world was ending, when in fact it was just changing. Drastically changing, but not ending. I was around 22,

2022-09-16T12:52:45+01:007th September 2022|Blog, Dementia, World Alzheimer's Month|

Grief Awareness Day: I Miss my Cat more than my Grandfather

Today is Grief Awareness Day, a day mostly marked in the US but recognised and observed by some in the UK and elsewhere too. Quenby, Community Health Development Analyst at Mentally Healthy Leeds, has taken this opportunity to raise awareness around the complexity of grief and the need to make room for this in person-centred care. I’ve been thinking a lot about grief over the past year. I’ve spent

2022-09-05T15:21:40+01:0030th August 2022|Blog, Grief, Mental Health|

The Power of Power In Co-Production

Our new Coproduction and Service User Involvement lead, Scotty, has written this blog on the power of power and the need to change unequal power dynamics in our organisations: It is very easy when working with Coproduction to go onto autopilot and become an evangelist under the pretext that everybody should understand your ethos and work this way. I forget that there is also a journey to get to a

2022-08-10T09:50:06+01:0010th August 2022|Blog, Coproduction|

“There’s a Huge Gap in Services that Meet their Needs”: Touchstone’s BME Dementia Service Calls on ITV Calendar News

On Monday 8th August, Touchstone’s BME Dementia Service featured on ITV calendar news to call for more funding for BME-specific support and care for those living with dementia. Here is a summary of the report, with the full link below: The segment includes clips from the service’s weekly Hamari Yaadain (Our Memories) support cafes for South Asian people living with dementia. The café runs in five South Asian languages,

2022-08-09T16:33:26+01:009th August 2022|Blog, Dementia, News|

Perinatal Mental Health and Feeding Your Baby

To mark World Breastfeeding Week, Jayne, from Touchstone’s My Plan Perinatal Mental Health service, has put together some information on breast and chest feeding* and perinatal mental health. 20% of women are affected by mental illness either during pregnancy or in the 12 months after giving birth, which is known as the perinatal period. Many trans and non-binary parents, who may not identify as women, also report mental health

2023-01-26T15:59:55+00:004th August 2022|Blog, Mental Health, parent mental health, Parents|

Raising Awareness of Non-Visible Disabilities

July was Disability Pride Month. As July comes to an end and we enter August, some of Touchstone's staff and volunteers have shared their personal thoughts and experiences to raise awareness around non-visible disabilities and how others can offer better support. Before reading on, please note the following on the use of language within this blog: The phrase ‘non-visible disabilities’ is preferred by some people with disabilities that are not

2022-08-01T14:38:17+01:001st August 2022|Blog, Disability Pride Month|

Love Parks Week: The Role of Parks in Mental Health Peer Support for Parents

This Love Parks Week 2022, the Coordinator of our Perinatal Mental Health Peer Supporter Alliance, Clare, has shared her thoughts on the importance of parks to parents' mental health. She has also co-ordinated some key info of park-based projects parents can get involved with across West Yorkshire: My daughter was born in early January. It was cold and dark. January often feels like a month with no hope –

2023-01-26T16:00:08+00:0028th July 2022|Blog, Love Parks Week, Mental Health, parent mental health|

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