Woodstock Care Home Takes Part In National Dementia Project ‘Bringing The Inside Out’

Woodstock Care Home has been involved in a new project designed to give a voice to people living with dementia.

The ‘Bringing The Inside Out’ initiative is the brainchild of arts-based charity Living Words, who have turned the stories gleaned throughout the project into a book.

Woodstock’s Activity Coordinator Naomi Daglish joined 19 other care professionals for five weeks of action learning as part of the project.

Living Words conducted sessions over Zoom, teaching participants how to speak to Residents living with dementia using their ‘Listen Out Loud’ approach.

Stories from each Home have now been compiled to create the ‘Bringing The Inside Out’ anthology.

Naomi said: “I feel so privileged to have had the opportunity to work with Living Words and to be involved in the amazing work they do. 

“The approach they have taught us makes you truly listen to the words being spoken, and it really does make you realise that it’s not just the words but the power of the emotion and conviction behind them.” 

The hope is that this new anthology will challenge people’s misconceptions about the lives of individuals living with dementia. It’s also designed to highlight the challenges faced during the Covid-19 crisis by not only the individuals in care but also their families and the staff who support them.

Living Words’ methods proved to be such a success with the Residents at Woodstock that the team will continue to implement their ‘Listen Out Loud’ approach.

Naomi says she intends to work with every Resident to produce individual books of words. This will be done with support from the Living Words team, who have developed the practice over 15 years. Living Words and Advinia will also be looking for more ways to work together in future.

Naomi said: “I was very excited when I first heard about the project because since I started at Woodstock in 2017, I’ve been looking for ways to prove that individuals affected by dementia still have a life to live and a voice to be heard.”

The book ‘Bringing the Inside Out’ is now available to buy. All profits go to Living Words, so they can continue their innovative work. It includes a foreword from the actor Brian Cox and words from Vic Rayner, Executive Director of the National Care Forum.