Dementia Care Matters is seen as the ‘radical’ end of dementia care in this country; hopefully this is set to change. The ‘radical’ idea that feelings matter most, is one of their core values. We believe this should be at the heart of all residential care. We’ve been thinking a lot recently about this core value as the importance of feelings was a theme at the Learning from Excellence conference last week and it reminded us of Emma Plunkett’s blog about being challenged on things that others dismiss as “touchy-feely”.

David Sheard is the chief executive and founder of Dementia Care Matters and this film is an introduction to the approach that the organisation is using to transform the lives of people with dementia. We showcased one of their homes Landermeads at the beginning of the year as an example of how things can be done differently. In this film, David takes us on a journey to connect our emotions and values to our professional lives and slowly to remove the mask that separates us from them. Some of you may have seen it, but it’s worth a rewatch as the power of feelings, humanity and kindness in our work and communities shouldn’t be forgotten.