Jane Hesketh talks about what it was like filming her special dementia series

  • Central

Both my grandparents had dementia, and watching the mental faculties of people you love fade away is horrible.

This is why I was intrigued by a scheme called 'Dementia Diaries', where people with the condition record their daily thoughts on a special designated telephone line. These are then transcribed by volunteers and put on a website for all to listen to.

The idea that you can talk about your feelings and frustrations and get support and feedback from others in a similar situation is a brilliant idea, and can help to alleviate the isolation that many people with dementia feel.

I wanted to find out what it really feels like to live with this condition and whether is was possible to live 'well' with it. There is a stigma surrounding it in my view. People talk about 'my nanas a bit do lally' or 'uncles away with the fairies'. As if having dementia means you're mad.

What is actually happening in simple terms, is that the parts of the brain that control your thinking abilities, your memory, language, emotions and behaviour are damaged.

Jane looks at how different activities can help those with the condition. Credit: ITV News Central

Shelagh says she hid under the duvet when she got her diagnosis. A university lecturer and counsellor, she was used to being in control and at the top of her game.

But she refuses to be defined by her diagnosis, and says it's important for people with dementia to continue to take risks. By this she doesn't mean skydiving! she means travelling alone, doing new activities and being visible.

Chris was diagnosed in his early sixties while he was still working. He finds, planning, organising and motivating himself to do things very difficult. But singing in the now famous Vicky McClure Dementia Choir has given him a new lease of life.

He's also taken up the ukelele and plays with a local group. He's open and honest about his dementia and the effect on his wife Jane.

I was encouraged to see that music and physical activity can have a transformative effect on people with dementia, it's as if a light has been switched on and they are once more 'themselves'.

Filming people with a mind altering condition is a challenge - you don't want to be talking about them with their partner, as if they're not in the room. But yet this is what I found myself doing with John and Sandra.

John says his once gregarious outgoing wife is now quiet and her language is repetitive. He can't leave her alone, and says his world has shrunk.

Sandra was in the room as he said this, but made no response. It's as if she is in her world, and he is in his. They can go for several hours without exchanging a word.

The people I filmed are all cared for and supported by loved ones - they're lucky. But it's those carers, the husbands and wives, that are bearing the brunt.

They often feel as if they're on their own, and that their world is all about the person with dementia.

Jane has to drive Chris everywhere he wants to go as he's not allowed to drive. John cant walk to the shops to buy a paper on his own because he cant leave Sandra. These are their everyday realities.

John says Sandra was once Credit: ITV News Central

There isn't the help for people with dementia that there is for people living with cancer for example.

There are around 300 Admiral nurses in the country who specialise in dementia. There are over 4,500 Macmillan nurses, helping people with cancer.

With one million people expected to have dementia by 2025, there is an urgent need for a plan on how they'll be cared for.

Sandra is cared for by an admirul nurse. With more people being diagnosed with Dementia, there is an urgent need for a plan on how they'll be cared for. Credit: ITV News Central

Watch the three special dementia episodes on ITV News Central at 6pm on the 17th, 18th and 19th of December.

More information about dementia can be found at: