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DonateColette's Story
Colette, 76, is a carer and attends our Living Well Service together with her partner Danny who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in August 2022.
When Danny was first diagnosed, Colette found it difficult, she said “When Danny was first diagnosed I went to pieces as I wasn’t sure how we were going to cope. I’m an artist but I found that I couldn’t draw or paint any more as I couldn’t settle or concentrate.”
Danny and Colette started going to a local Parkinson’s support group and one day a member of staff from Compton came along to talk about the Living Well Service at Compton and the services and activities available.
Compton’s Living Well Service aims to give patients the practical and emotional tools that they need to continue to live actively and independently with their condition. The therapy led service works together with patients to agree a programme of activities to meet their individual goals and needs and this is carried out in whichever way is most accessible. Activities include social groups, relaxation, craft and create or seated exercise therapy.
Danny and Colette started to attend Living Well and the groups provided by the service. Colette shared “What’s really good for me is that, as Danny’s carer, I have been included in everything. There are also things for me to get involved with, and I never thought that would happen.”
Colette now attends a group for carers at Compton. She said “I come to the carers’ group once a fortnight and it’s wonderful. Sometimes we have such a laugh, and other times it’s quite heavy, but we all share things with each other that we wouldn’t share with our loved ones – how we feel, with honesty, and I don’t know what I’d do without it. It’s nice to meet with other people who are in the same position. The support I’ve had has been wonderful, we had complementary therapy which was lovely.”
Colette added “When I come to pick Danny up, people ask me how I am, it’s not just about the patients, it’s the carers too and I think that’s really good.”
Since joining the Living Well Service, both Danny and Colette have become regular attendees of the groups. She said “Compton is a place of safety, a place where I know Danny will be looked after and I haven’t got to worry. I can have the day off and do my own thing without having to worry about what Danny is up to because I know he is being looked after.”
“It’s given me peace of mind, because I know if I’m struggling with anything I’ve only got to pick the phone up and somebody will help me. It’s a friendly place and I know that if I was in trouble, one of the social workers from the carer group would help and give me all the advice that I need.”