Dementia Support Line
Information
Questions and answers: Getting the support you need on Talking Point
Q&A sessions on our online community are an opportunity to get an expert opinion about a situation.
Talking Point, our online community, is a place where you can share experiences and advice – or simply let off steam – with other people affected by dementia. You can also ask experts questions through the community’s Q&A sessions, which focus on a different subject each time.
These sessions happen live at a scheduled time and date, but you can also take part by asking questions in advance, and you can read answers and comments afterwards as well.
Chance to ask
Q&A sessions provide a great opportunity to get an expert’s take on a specific question.
For example, in a recent session Angelo Makri from our Knowledge Services team, who focuses on wellbeing, answered questions about how carers can look after themselves. People asked him about coping with guilt, organising replacement (or respite) care, communicating how you feel to family and friends, and caring for someone else when you have a health condition of your own to manage.
Other Q&A sessions have looked at paying for residential care, loneliness, medication, lasting powers of attorney and managing money.
The expert is often someone from the Society, but we include people from other organisations too – another recent session about living with dementia and cancer featured a Macmillan nurse who specialises in dementia.
Dementia Support Forum
Free to join
Upcoming sessions are usually announced on Talking Point a week beforehand.
Anyone can see all of the questions and answers, not only while the session is happening but also after it’s finished. To ask a question and take part, you need to become a member of the online community – this is free, and it’s perfectly fine to use a made-up name to do this.
You can post a question either before or during the session, and the expert will reply directly on the day. If you’d prefer to ask a question anonymously, you can email the Talking Point team for them to ask on your behalf.
Whether or not you join Q&A sessions, you will find plenty of support on Talking Point from thousands of people who understand what you are going through.