Dementia Studies Graduate Follows Her Dream
Since graduating with the BSc (Hons) Dementia Studies Chris Elsley has set up her own business and won a prestigious training contract.
Chris originally embarked upon her studies at the University of Bradford out of alarm at the lack of support for people with dementia in the community. Her time on the course was not without its own tragedy as she lost her husband to pancreatic cancer shortly before graduating. Just before he died, Chris says, her husband told her to follow her passion for looking after people with dementia.
“After I graduated I decided that the knowledge I had gained, along with my experience of caring for a person with dementia, could be put to good use. I enrolled on a Teaching in Lifelong Learning (PTTLS) programme and produced a dementia awareness course for colleagues with limited awareness of the condition. I convinced Cambridge Housing Group to let me run a pilot session and see what feedback we got.”
From this modest start Forget Me Not Dementia Training was born, and three years on Chris now delivers all Cambridge Housing Group’s dementia training. She has also recently won the Essex County Council tender to provide all its Dementia Awareness training for 2014/15. “Studying with Bradford University was a huge challenge for me” says Chris, “but with the support that you gave, and also the support of fellow students (one of whom I still see several times per year) I managed to fulfil my passion.”