Massaging People Living With Dementia

Just to elaborate a little on the course with Nicolle – I liked her very much and her approach – she had many anecdotes to illustrate her experience in the subject and to inspire – an experiential exercise for us to appreciate quite how it feels to be less physically capable than we are now and begin to put ourselves into the shoes of the dementia patient – it gave insight and reassurance to those inexperienced with them to feel confident in approaching them – others there who were carers at a home were also able to add their anecdotes and experience – she created an informal atmosphere but with appropriate respect for the subject. Theory in the morning and practical in the later part of afternoon.

I would, and have, recommended it highly.

Helle (April 28, 2017)

Your course ‘massage for dementia’ was truly inspirational and has fuelled us in the creation of our new business, so this is an update on our progress in the last four months. “We have been massaging in one care home for a while now; massaging a few private patients weekly. Pip’s prior contacts in the ho…me, plus our weekly presence has opened up the opportunity to demonstrate our skills to the other residents, this we do in the form of a ‘pamper day’.The ‘pamper days’ are something we started before christmas at another care home, with great success. There, we arranged a meeting with the matron and activities manager and offered our service for a morning, free of charge. We had a huge response; which made the home, particularly the activities manager, the patients and ourselves look and feel superb! We now massage in that home each month with a minimum of 10 patients. We are currently in dialogue with a third home and will offer another pamper day with the aim of watching our business grow, one home at a time. Also, Pip through a spontaneous and somewhat random conversation with her G.P, enrolled her in the benefits of touch as a form of communication. The G. P. has asked for as many pamphlets and cards as we can provide. The pamphlets can make us known to more private patients and more importantly to relatives of patients, which can then gain us access to more care and private homes. It is extremely early days, however we are finding that if you can get yourself into a position of demonstrating what is possible with our therapy, enrolling others into your world inevitably follows. So thank you for teaching and inspiring us, and please share this with future therapists, the more that our out there doing our work, the more our work will flow.” Victoria Brill, Mind Body and Soul Massage Therapy

Victoria Brill (March 10, 2016)