Happy days

Dementia is no laughing matter – or is it? We know that music can spark joy and memories for people with dementia and connect them with their past. I’m hoping comedy can do the same.

One day, who knows? I may reach a stage where I no longer recognise you, and I don’t even know where I am, or why. This will very likely be harder and sadder for you to manage than it is for me. Please feel free to enrol me in singing groups – be sure to bring your earplugs! Play me lots of music – but if I don’t respond to the third movement of Hummel’s Trumpet Concerto, it is probably game over.

And please, please, play me back my favourite comedy clips and feed me punchlines. I like to imagine that with the right prompts I will still raise a little smile and whisper the three things you might expect to see out of a Torquay hotel window and the chief weapon chief weapons of the Spanish Inquisition. 

I’ve already started compiling my favourites as something for you to remember me by. Now I realise that they might be just as useful for me to remember me by.

This project will be a doddle for me – I’ve been using a computer since 1984 and online since 1996. I take great pleasure in Looking Things Up and hyperlinking them to share with others. I can use an iPad and have reliable, fast broadband.

Not everyone of my age (70) and above is so blessed. Many have retired without using computers in their working lives, and, with faculties failing, aren’t ready to start now. Is it really too late for them to connect?

Beating isolation

Michael Blakstad doesn’t think so. Now 82 and living with Parkinson’s, this former editor of the BBC-TV programme Tomorrow’s World is still buzzing with innovation. When his wife Tricia, who has Alzheimer’s, was admitted to a care home, he took in a tablet loaded with videos, tunes and photos they enjoyed together. Then came lockdown. She couldn’t work the technology herself and the staff couldn’t help her. She became increasingly isolated and her condition worsened. Now Michael is on a mission to connect more people stranded on the other side of the digital divide.

Always On

I read about Michael in Rory Cellan-Jones’ blog Always On.  It’s my go-to resource for news of technical developments in healthcare. Until recently Rory was technology correspondent for BBC News; in his new life he, like me, has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s since 2019.

In Connect care homes to battle dementia  Rory outlines the problems – slow broadband, residents unable to use the technology, staff too busy to help them, staff needing training themselves.

In  Can media spark memories? he reports on a meeting that Michael Blakstad convened to discuss some of the solutions. There are many possibilities.  They focus on access to favourite content and a device that is easy to use for people with cognitive or physical disabilities. I like the look of Kraydel Konnect, a five-button remote control that enables the user to access content and make video calls through their television.

None of this can happen without reliable and speedy broadband in care homes, alongside staff training and regulation. All require immense human and financial resources. It’s a big drum to beat, but Michael is already making a lot of noise. I’ll be following his progress with interest.

Your choice

If you are good at navigating YouTube, there’s fun to be had in browsing round your own comedy favourites to save for a rainy day. Or put together for an older relative or neighbour. You’ll find some of my other favourites below – please share yours.

A pint. Two Soups. Four Candles. Bring it on!

Play > Happy Days > Pratt and McClain

Just a few of my favourites

“This uniform goes back to Moss Brothers tomorrow.”
“ Yes, sir, there’s the deposit on it.”
“Oh, that’ll brush off, don’t worry.” (The Goon Show)

“I’ve nothing against your right leg. The trouble is, neither have you.” (Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, Beyond the Fringe, One Leg Too Few)

“Don’t tell him, Pike! (Dad’s Army)

“I’m looking for ma fwend.   Have you seen her? Kimberley. She’s really, really tall and really really wide.” (Victoria Wood)

“You’re the manager of a fireworks factory? How do you know which ones to make go Ooooh?! And which Aaaaah?” (Dara Ó Briain, live, Carlisle)

“What’s the name of the Directory that lists members of the peerage?”
“A study of old fossils” (Two Ronnies Mastermind sketch – specialist subject answering the question before last)

“Every day I pray it is goulash day. It is never goulash day.” (lonely and neglected paprika in Michael McIntyre’s herb and spice cupboard)

“When I caught Gerald in ’68 he was completely wild.”
“WILD?! I was absolutely livid! (Gerald the Gorilla, Not The Nine O’Clock News)

“You’re playing all the wrong notes!”
“I’m playing all the right notes…not necessarily in the right order!” (Morecambe and Wise with Andre Previn aka Andrew Preview)