Dementia Diaries is a UK-wide project that brings together people’s diverse experiences of living with dementia as a series of audio diaries. It serves as a public record and a personal archive that documents the views, reflections and day-to-day lives of people living with dementia, with the aim of prompting dialogue and changing attitudes.
Dementia Diaries is run by Innovations in Dementia
How does the project work?
Diarists record diaries in a number of ways.
Some record their diaries over the 'phone.
Others send in audio or video they have recorded themselves.
Our team of volunteers then transcribe the diaries, so they can be read as well.
We then publish the diaries here.
“We need to educate society that dementia touches many people in many different ways. We need to dispel the myths… Dementia is everyone’s business.”
Who are we working with?
Dementia Diaries is run by Innovations in Dementia and is part of our Dementia Voices Programme.
Dementia Voices pulls together into one place many threads of our work with people with dementia. It contains a family of websites, each of which gives expression to the many voices of people with dementia. Each site shows how people with dementia have come together to listen to, learn from, and support each other - and in the process changing the way people think about dementia.
A team from Leeds Beckett University was asked to evaluate the success of Dementia Diaries. An accessible summary of their findings is available in their report. You can download a pdf of the report here.
Listen to our diarists
Each of our audio diaries is a personal record of our journey with dementia. You can listen to our voices and read the transcript. The thoughts and experiences shared here chart the frustrations and opportunities that arise from living with the many different forms of dementia that we have between us. They are shared with you in the hope that our honesty will help to inform the way you engage with those living with the condition – as friends, family, service providers and decision-makers. These are our diaries. Thank you for listening.
Dementia Diaries videos
You can find a playlist of Dementia Diaries videos here: https://bit.ly/3X4HCY3
Can You Volunteer To Transcribe?
We need help transcribing the recorded entries of our diarists for this important project.