"I needed to get these stories out"
Janet always wanted to be a writer but life had other plans – a career teaching, then years spent helping women return to the workforce through TAFE.
It wasn’t until her late 50s that she completed a PhD in creative writing.
Then, in 2022, she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
At first, Janet thought she’d simply carry on as before.
But as her diagnosis has progressed, something has shifted.
“Now that it’s starting to bare its teeth I’m thinking I really need to be getting on with this,” she says. “I need to get these stories out.”
In the Brain Health: Unpacking the Latest Insights and Tips episode of the Hold the Moment podcast, Janet talks about the power of writing and storytelling.
Her experience reflects research that shows staying mentally and socially engaged through writing, conversation or shared activities can be a powerful part of brain health at any age and at any stage of a dementia diagnosis.
Everyone has a story to tell
It’s certainly the case for Janet who, rather than slowing down, has thrown herself further into writing and helping others do the same.
After connecting with a Perth-based theatre practitioner running creative programs for people living with dementia, Janet helped design a writing program based on a simple idea – everyone has a story to tell.
One of the moments that reinforces why she does this work is the story of a woman who attended one of her writing workshops after gentle persuasion from her family and granddaughter.
By the end of the session, she read had her story aloud and was beaming.
“We got the message a couple of days later that she went home and wrote three more that night,” Janet says. “I was a bit teary about that.”
“If I can inspire somebody to do something that they get great pleasure from, that’s it.”
Leaving a written legacy
There’s one story Janet hasn’t written yet that she’s determined to get to – a story for her granddaughter who loved being read to as a child.
“Maybe in five years she won’t have her Nanny T – that’s me – but maybe she’ll have a story that I wrote,” Janet says. “She will have that and I’ll be gone, but I won’t be.”
Janet shares her story in Brain Health: Unpacking the Latest Insights, an episode of Hold the Moment, Dementia Australia’s podcast.
About the podcast
Dementia Australia's Hold the Moment podcast is full of stories about life after a dementia diagnosis.
It is co-hosted by Jim Rogers, who lives with young onset dementia, and Dementia Australia Ambassador and journalist Hamish Macdonald, whose father lived with Lewy body dementia and Parkinson's.
The podcast is available on podcast apps, the Dementia Australia website and Dementia Australia's YouTube channel.
Looking for support?
The Hold the Moment podcast is just one of the ways Dementia Australia supports people impacted by dementia.
You can also contact the National Dementia Helpline on 1800 100 500 (available 24 hours a day, seven days a week).
For more information on this topic, visit the Brain health pageon our website.
