Wednesday’s show was put together for me by Subitha Baghirathan. All I had to do was ask good questions and deal with a few technical problems that we had at the start.

The first hour saw Subitha along with Dr. Judy Haworth, a dementia specialist, and Wayne Song from a Chinese community group tell us what is happening in South Gloucestershire. Dr. Haworth gave us some really great information about the nature of dementia conditions, and how we can at least try to stave them off. Keeping active, both physically and mentally appear to be key.

You can listen to the first hour of the show here.

In the second hour I was joined by Jan Connect from the City Council plus Daisy Rajput, Sato Black and Ade Couper, all of whom are involved in dementia support work in some way.

You can listen to the second hour of the show here.

The one really important thing that I learned from the show is that there are still far too many people out there who associate dementia with mental illness, and therefore believe that those living with dementia can make themselves better by “pulling themselves together”. It is really important for everyone to understand that dementia is caused by actual physical deterioration of the brain, that the main cause is aging, and that consequently there should be no shame attached to the condition.

My thanks again to Subitha and all of my guests for helping create this really important show.

Subitha also suggested some of the music for the show. As I result I have been introduced to Amadou & Miriam, a hugely talented couple from Mali, and to the amazing blues pioneer, Memphis Minnie. This also gave me an excuse to play Little Feat, and Led Zeppelin.