
Dementia patients in west Wales to benefit from new games
The charity funded seven "All About Us" board games and seven "Aqua Paint Packs," both designed specifically for individuals living with dementia.
Lara Schmidt, an occupational therapist, said: "We're incredibly pleased that charitable donations have allowed us to purchase these items for the OACMHTs and Older Adult Mental Health Inpatient Wards across Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire.
"The 'All About Us' board game offers the opportunity to utilise as a one-to-one assessment tool as well as in group settings."
She said the game supports users in reflecting on their experiences, identity, and values and can help strengthen their sense of purpose and independence.
The Aqua Paint Packs, also designed for older adults with dementia, use water and gentle brush strokes to reveal calming images, encouraging creativity and conversation.
Ms Schmidt said: "For our service users, aqua painting is a low-risk activity that still offers an enriching experience as aqua painting can exercise imagination, and enable people to experience joy and a sense of accomplishment."
The items were made possible through donations to Hywel Dda Health Charities, the official charity of Hywel Dda University Health Board.
Nicola Llewelyn, head of Hywel Dda Health Charities, said: "The support of our local communities enables us to provide services over and above what the NHS can provide in the three counties of Hywel Dda and we are extremely grateful for every donation we receive."
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Guardian
6 hours ago
- The Guardian
I lost my hearing in one ear and I'm worried I won't find a new job
I am a 50-year-old man. After a long-term disease, I had my inner ear removed, and then lost my job due to incapacity. I have hearing in one ear, am waiting for an implant and wear aids, which help. I felt lost for a few years, but I got fit and slowly regrouped, and ended up doing an apprenticeship. Now it is coming to an end, I am worried about applying for jobs, having to prove myself again against healthy people half my age. Sometimes I wake in the night panicking. I want to cry most of the time. I just want someone to say it will be OK and help me. But I'm not sure who to ask. My biggest fear is putting strain on my wife and kids again. I can't drive due to the illness and operation, so I am already at a loss as to which jobs I can apply for. After being ill for so long I lost a lot of friends, who just didn't get it. I think the new situation is triggering a lot of that hurt. Facing a long-term disease and loss of hearing is tough. You have already really helped yourself. I went to emergency planner Prof Lucy Easthope, and the RNID, the national charity supporting people who are deaf or have hearing loss or tinnitus (which is one in three adults in the UK). Easthope has written a book you may find helpful called Come What May: Life-Changing Lessons for Coping with Crisis. The first thing she said was: 'Bloody well done. We often need to hear that, but no one says it. You've been incredibly brave doing the apprenticeship.' She felt you were using 'pessimism as protection, which can actually be really helpful as long as it doesn't sabotage, because you have to be ready for things to not go entirely right. And there are reasons things might not go right that shouldn't be linked to your self-esteem.' She gave the example of people after adversity 'going for total reinvention and not being realistic, like going for jobs they can't do and maybe could never do. If the job isn't right for you, then you probably won't get it.' She also felt that: 'What you are going through is bigger than what happens next; the dreams you have had to give up on.' She suggested 'speaking out loud the monsters that keep you awake at night so you can explore them'. Who previously made things OK for you? Is there someone you can talk to? I'm sure your wife would welcome you letting her in, but if not, a good friend or a family member? I'm sorry your friends didn't get it. Lots of people don't, but often it's not ill intent, just ignorance (and laziness to not find out what you need). Sign up to Inside Saturday The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend. after newsletter promotion Little by little, things can and will shift. Health crises can really throw us, and it can take a long time to adapt and redefine ourselves. It also sounds like you are a bit afraid of letting others in, but talking about things is how we process. No one can say this is going to be 100% OK, but slowly you may realise that there will be OK-ness, joy and hope. You can cry if you need to. The RNID recommended looking for employers who have signed up to the Disability Confident scheme. And added: 'Remember that under the Equality Act 2010, employers have a legal duty to support individuals, including those who are deaf or have hearing loss.' The RNID has lots more info, and the charity Hearing Link Services offers peer support sessions. Easthope said that you might imagine younger people without your issues wouldn't be afraid but, trust us, they are. Everyone is with a new start. You've done amazingly well. This wasn't what you planned, but it's where you've found yourself. You're not the same person you were at the beginning of this journey, because you've already found great resources within yourself. Every week, Annalisa Barbieri addresses a personal problem sent in by a reader. If you would like advice from Annalisa, please send your problem to Annalisa regrets she cannot enter into personal correspondence. Submissions are subject to our terms and conditions. The latest series of Annalisa's podcast is available here. Comments on this piece are pre-moderated to ensure the discussion remains on the topics raised by the article. Please be aware that there may be a short delay in comments appearing on the site.


Telegraph
7 hours ago
- Telegraph
The woman who says you can spot a psychopath at three years old
There is little Prof Viding, 50, hasn't seen in the 25 years she has been researching psychopathy and young people's mental health, and she spent two years conducting studies on inmates at Wormwood Scrubs prison and Broadmoor high-security psychiatric hospital. 'It struck me that when you read prisoners' case histories, there were warning signs that had been there long before they committed their crimes,' she recalls. Ted Bundy, the notorious American serial killer, was a prime example of this: as a child he liked to dig holes in the ground, laced with spikes, for passers-by to fall in and hurt themselves. He also used to buy mice at the pet shop and pull them apart. Over the years, there have been even more alarming reports: babies who repeatedly bite their mother's breasts; toddlers who pretend to hug their parents and headbutt them instead. One of Prof Viding's studies looked at the genetic predisposition to psychopathy in seven-year-old twins, finding that CU traits have a 'strong genetic influence'. In other words, some children are born more likely to develop personality features that could be red flags. 'No one is born a psychopath' 'You see families where there are concentrations of these traits,' Prof Viding explains. 'No one is born a psychopath and the genes are not a blueprint, but there are people whose genetic makeup means that they are at higher risk than others.' Our genes and our early social environment shape how the brain processes emotional and social information – and the brains of children at risk of developing psychopathy are different from those of other children, showing little response to emotional stimuli that would normally induce fear. They also tend to have a low resting heart rate, typically associated with stress resilience. Researchers at the University of Cambridge in 2021 found that children whose hearts beat faster at the age of eight were at lower risk of developing adult psychopathy, despite having adverse childhood experiences. 'Children with conduct problems and CU traits, and adults with psychopathy, are poor at feeling what others are feeling, known as emotional empathy,' Prof Viding adds. 'On a conceptual level, they understand it, but that is not the same as feeling it. 'They are better at cognitive empathy, so they can work out what makes someone tick, but they don't care if they make others distressed. This combination makes for a powerful tool for manipulation.' The latter will chime with most parents – my three-year-old certainly has me wrapped around his little finger – but, if anything, my kids feel too many big emotions, not too few. 'Interventions can work' It's not all bad news, however, even if a child displays these traits from a young age. Several studies around adoption show that children at risk of developing worrying behaviours because of their biological family history, if they go on to be adopted by warm, loving parents, are less likely to see those behaviours worsen as they get older. Treatment, Prof Viding says, is effective, such as adapting parenting styles, learning how to help a child regulate their differing reactions, and seeking ongoing professional help in which a therapist works with both child and parents. 'With any behaviour, the more rooted it gets, the more difficult it becomes to intervene. But we know that interventions in adolescents and adults can also work, so the message should not be that if you don't get there in the first five years, it's useless.' Unfortunately, she adds, getting help to the children who need it is easier said than done, as those who exhibit these tendencies often come from families where their parents have complex issues of their own (such as addiction, mental-health difficulties or problems with the law). 'It is harder to elicit sympathy for children who don't play by the rules and behave in ways that can be unpleasant or downright dangerous,' she says. 'It is an uphill battle to get funding to help these children, even though it would be in society's interest.' A mother herself, to two teenagers aged 15 and 17, Prof Viding understands only too well the parenting rollercoaster – and how difficult dealing with an unruly child, let alone one showing worryingly abnormal personality traits, can be. 'I get emails on a weekly basis from parents who are concerned and don't know where to turn,' she admits. 'It's heartbreaking. 'At the moment in the UK, the health service is incredibly reluctant to diagnose conduct disorder, so the parents often have to wait until things are so bad they can no longer cope or their child is in trouble with the law.' But, she insists, no child is beyond reprieve – nor is anyone's little darling 'destined' to become a psychopath. Cue a collective parental sigh of relief.


BBC News
8 hours ago
- BBC News
Egham GP surgery to move into permanent building after 15 years
A Surrey GP surgery is to move to a larger, permanent site after 15 years in temporary Medical Practice, which serves around 7,600 patients, will move into the Hythe Centre on Thorpe Road, Borough Council agreed to sell the building to improve local health services and, it said, maintaining the centre as a community hall was no longer council said contracts are expected to be exchanged by the end of 2025, with the building undergoing a full refit to make it suitable for medical use. The council declared the Hythe Centre surplus to requirements in June, and discussions have since taken place to convert it into a healthcare council said better health facilities "outweighs the Hythe Centre's value as a hall for hire".The new facility is to be about four times the size of the current surgery, with eight consulting and clinical rooms, as well as office adjacent Hythe Playing Field will not be included in the sale.A council spokesperson said: "We're focused on creating an environment that supports the health and wellbeing of local people."In this case we can do that by providing the space for an up-to-date medical practice where patients feel confident of great care and medical staff can work at their best in modern conditions."An information event about the plans will take place on 13 August at the Hythe Centre, from 14:30 to 18:30 BST.