Well I Know Now with Pippa Kelly

When her husband Geoff went to live in a care home several years after he developed dementia Zoe Harris soon realised that his lack of verbal communication was not only impacting on his quality of life but severely compromising his health. Because Geoff couldn’t tell his carers that he liked his coffee black they made it white, he didn’t drink it and in the space of two days became dangerousl...

When her own life hit a rough patch and she was brought very low, actor, writer and television producer Susanna Howard quite literally wrote her way out of it. She let her words flow onto paper, never letting her pen stop and not allowing herself to think too much.  The results surprised her. “I was reconnecting to myself,” she says.  Realising she was onto something, she...

Creative from the tip of his head to his northern roots – he was born in Blackpool – cartoonist Tony Husband shows no sign of letting up as he approaches his seventies. His spare, witty drawings have appeared in virtually all of our national newspapers and magazines, and following the death of his dad Ron in 2011 Tony has turned his considerable wit and skill to raising awareness of dementia....

Young mum Suzy Webster is quietly very strong. She has a softness about her that belies her courage and determination. Not many of us possess the generosity of spirit or wells of emotional, physical and mental strength to invite our elderly parents come and live with us, particularly when one of them has dementia. This young mum from Chepstow, ably and wisely supported by her husban...

Sally Knocker works tirelessly to enhance the lives of older people and those with dementia. I doubt she even sees it as work because she is so naturally compassionate and empathetic.  For her – as with other guests to whom I’ve spoken for this podcast – there is no them (those we are caring for or those with dementia) and us. There is just us. This ethos lies at the heart of a...

Chris Roberts has the most fantastic attitude to life. “Take it by the danglies,” he cajoles us all. “And run with it!”  This enviably positive approach might be because of – or despite of – his dementia, which he began to develop a decade ago when he was just 50 years old.  It’s a view that is undoubtedly strengthened by the deep love and support of Jayne, his wife o...

In my first podcast I meet the acclaimed interior designer Nula Suchet whose late husband began to develop Pick’s disease, a rare form of dementia, when he was just 57. This warm, passionate Irish woman tells me that she didn’t even know what dementia was when James first started to show symptoms. She describes how isolating it was as she struggled to look after him and her shock at the lack of su...