Meet Bobby Redman, a volunteer story from StepUp for Research
Bobby is a retired psychologist. She lives alone and has a daughter and three grandsons, who she describes as “the centre of my world”.
Diagnostic Confusion
At the age of 66, Bobby was given a provisional diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment or frontotemporal dementia after experiencing a range of symptoms, including “a noticeable change in my ability to perform day-to-day tasks, some issues with speech and my ability to follow conversations, and personality changes picked up by close friends”, she says. Since then, despite clear cognitive decline picked up by tests and brain scans, Bobby explains that the “doctors have yet to pin down which specific type of dementia I have”. Before retirement, a year prior to her diagnosis, Bobby specialised in working with people with a disability and their carers, to assist them to function to their highest capacity. Bobby believes the reason that lay behind the confusion surrounding her diagnosis is that she is “continuing to function ‘too well’ in my doctor’s eyes”.
A Newfound Purpose
Following her diagnosis, Bobby committed herself to Dementia Advocacy – creating awareness, giving support and participating in dementia research. Bobby feels that her newfound work, “helps me to maintain a strong purpose in life, and thus positive attitude. It means I can keep up with all that is happening, plus it gives me the opportunity to hopefully improve the future for people living with dementia”. Bobby is a strong supporter of Step Up for Dementia Research. “It gives me the opportunity to be kept informed about research projects that I may not otherwise hear about”, she says.
More volunteer stories are availavle on StepUp for Research website: https://www.stepupfordementiaresearch.org.au/category/volunteer-stories/
To learn more about how you can get involved in studies focused on healthy ageing and/or dementia, please click on the following links https://www.stepupfordementiaresearch.org.au/ and https://www.stepupforageingresearch.org.au/
Health Consumers NSW is an organisational champion for StepUp for Dementia Research and StepUp for Ageing Research.
