Course Inspiration

"Massaging People who have Dementia"

I first started massaging people who have dementia in 2006.

I was very naïve, despite having experience of working with elderly people & people who had special needs. Communicating & treating people who had varying degrees & types of dementia was a new challenge for me. My rapport with clients was inconsistent & support from the nursing home where I worked was minimal as the staff there were already overworked. During this time I scoured professional journals & the internet to try to find some appropriate training, but to no avail.

One morning I saw Penny Garner & her colleague Oliver James on TV talking about the book he had written under her guidance; Contented Dementia. The book was all about an approach Penny had developed & pioneered to help care for people with dementia. This approach was called SPECAL®: Specialised Early Care for Alzheimer's. This approach was all about increasing a person's wellbeing & providing carers with ways of caring & communicating, whilst ensuring better & happier mental & emotional health for the person who has dementia.

I read the book & attended a course, which both helped my practice tremendously. This was further helped by liasing with many experts in this field to get more overviews, opinions & ensure I was working with the client's best interest in mind at all times.

Another extremely insightful read is John Zeisel's "I'm Still Here". By understanding the disease & communicating well you can enable someone who has dementia to feel comfortable about having a treatment. It also empowers you to advise & liase with those who care for people who have dementia.

What I have learned is that you need to understand the world from the point of view of the person who has dementia. By entering their world you can make them feel comfortable in your company & enable them to feel at ease about massage & touch.

Whilst I was researching all this, I realised there was no specialist massage training course in this field, & I decided to develop a course so that I could share my learning with my colleagues & peers.

I pulled together all my knowledge, experience & training and developed a course that helps you as a massage therapist treat someone who has dementia. Throughout the development process, I liased with many professionals to ensure the course content was relevant. The approach is all about entering the client's world on their terms & helps the person you are about to treat feel safe, secure & comfortable in your company. It also ensures that you are treating the client with the dignity & care they deserve.

"Massaging People who have Dementia" gives you the tools to set up a positive, professional working relationship with the carers or the nursing home to ensure you work together for the client's benefit. It is a course for people who wish to advance their skills, but also build on what they already have to give them the confidence to practice more proficiently.

This is a very exciting opportunity to attend a unique, & in turn, fun & profound training day which combines the cutting edge techniques of being able to genuinely make clients with dementia feel more comfortable about touch. Through this course you will gain the skills to deliver a fantastic hands on package to some wonderful people.

Due to demand, I am also now offering a workshop for carers, be they friends, family or professionals. This will enable you to give your loved one or your client some hands on care that will be deeply therapeutic.

The course is hosted in a stunning location in Cornwall as well as in London. Alternatively, I am able to provide training in your area should you wish.

The only prerequisite for this course is to have a valid massage, anatomy & physiology qualification.