Roy & Active Minds

Active Minds is an 8-week course specifically designed for those experiencing symptoms of cognitive impairment, our group sessions offer the chance to improve confidence and make new friends.

Roy was diagnosed with dementia in 2022, aged 76. He lives at home with his wife Roz, who cares for him full time.

I was asked to go and assess him for Active Minds. When I arrived, Roy was pretty resistant to the idea, telling me he ‘wasn’t sociable’ and that he ‘didn’t need it’. He was asking lots of questions about what the point of the course was, and who said he needed to go. I could see how much it would help June to have a bit of support and a break, so I asked Roy to humour me and try one session, no obligation to return…

I think that both myself and June were worried he wouldn’t even make it to the first session… But he did, and although he asked me once again why he was there (and got up halfway through to walk out), he stayed the entire 2 hours.

Each week he would ask why he was there and sit very quietly whilst we had our coffee, looking a little bemused by everything. When we tried to engage with him, he gave very vague and noncommittal answers, such as ‘I just like general colours’. But little by little he warmed up and got into the swing of things…

As the sessions progressed, Roy would engage more, and on the European Countries week he got the answer to every question in the quiz right within seconds – Mastermind! We also discovered that Roy loved the Singalong at the end of each session, he even took away the lyric sheet each week so he could sing at home!

Each week his wife would look more and more comfortable leaving him, and by week 4 Roy remembered who I was as he walked in – a massive success!!

In week 6, we did mindfulness and reflection, and we asked everyone to say how they felt today. Roy stunned us all by saying he felt ‘happy because when he’s here it feels like home’. This was such a big moment – I always say Active Minds should be about how it makes our Link Friends feel, and for Roy to feel ‘like home’, is simply wonderful!

Active Minds has allowed Roy to have a space where he is Roy, not ‘Roy with dementia’. He is a valued member of the sessions. He feels safe and has met other people who really understand how he feels. He made friends with 2 of the other gentlemen on the course and they would sit and have their coffee together each week.

Not only has the course helped Roy, it has helped his wife too. She was able to have 2 hours a week to herself to have a coffee or do the shopping. She has been amazed that Roy has enjoyed the sessions so much and tells me we are ‘miracle workers’.

Another fantastic outcome is that Roy’s wife has formed a friendship with the wife of another Link Friend who attended Active Minds. They are both carers for their husbands. They have swapped numbers and are staying in touch. I have told them about our Friendship Centre and they plan to meet there, and bring Roy and Bill along to join our Active Minds follow-up drop-in sessions.

I am very proud of the difference that Active Minds makes for not only our Link Friends, but their families too.