I’m so happy I made this decision!
I started working at Vida Grange in January. Initially for a few hours every week on a volunteer basis, and then after six months I took the plunge and took early retirement from my life long career in Healthcare Management.
I now work four days per week as part of the Well-being Team and I absolutely love it!
Although I don’t have any formal experience or qualifications in Dementia Care, I do have personal life experience of caring for someone living with Dementia. My Mother lived with Alzheimer’s Disease for ten years, with the last eighteen months of her life as a resident at Vida Hall. Despite this being a very difficult and sad time in my life, I realised that caring for people living with Dementia can be extremely rewarding. I knew that I wanted to use my personal experience to help support others.
I’d already experienced the excellent care that the team at Vida Healthcare had given to my Mother and so I knew that if I was going to make this change, Vida was the only place that I wanted to work.
I now feel that I learn something new every day. This is not only from the excellent dementia specialist training programmes that Vida Healthcare provide, but also from my managers and colleagues, and the residents and relatives themselves.
I am so happy that I made this decision to change the way that I was working, and to have a new interesting, fun, rewarding and challenging career at Vida Grange, instead of growing old and grey in my office! “
Joanna Hobson, Well-being Facilitator
