When Dave Wilson-Wynne started his care journey at the age of 18, working as a care assistant in a local care home, he had no idea that, in the future, he would be known as “The Disruptor” in dementia care.
Dave has been the Senior Dementia Consultant within the world-renowned Dementia Services Development Centre at the University of Stirling for nearly two years. He is proud of his journey from care assistant to, today, gaining international recognition as one of the leading consultants in dementia care.
Dave is very much a “what you see is what you get” kind of guy. He is approachable, committed, not afraid to speak his mind and, above all, gives people living with a dementia the opportunity to speak out and be heard. This then helps to inform Dave’s work and teaching. Over the past 18 years, Dave has led the way in a number of areas, and has been described as controversial, too young, inexperienced, and disruptive.
Dave’s journey in the dementia sector began in 2013 when Alzheimer Scotland was awarded funding to explore the use of music in supporting people who lived with a dementia. Dave applied for the job and became one of Scotland’s first Music Project Workers. His first task was to ask people living with a dementia in his home city of Dundee – what they would like. The answer? A singing group
Led by people living with a dementia and their care partners, Dave started one of Scotland’s first choirs for people living with a dementia and their families and friends. Within a year, the choir had grown form 13 people, to over 30 attending every Friday, in a local church in Dundee.
Dave championed for the choir to perform at local events, including The Royal College of Nursing Scotland Conference, Dundee Rep Theatre and Dundee United Football Club. Today, the choir more than 12 years old and its benefits have impacted on not just choir members, but society in general.
Anyone,who knows Dave is fully aware of his passion when it comes to terminology. A post by him on LinkedIn recently asked for a change in how we talk about “dementia”, to instead say “a dementia”. It received over 37,000 impressions and was reposted by over 150 people from all corners of the globe. “That is an example of empowerment and agency of people with a dementia. I asked them what they wanted, they told me, and I acted,” he says.
Dave teaches within the University of Stirling where he has co-developed a module for undergraduate Nursing and Paramedic Science students in what makes best practice dementia care and design. He has also co-produced a training course for health and social care providers – the first of its kind in the UK – to equip them to meet the unique needs of the LGBTQ+ community.
When Dave won a Dementia Care Award this year for Outstanding Contribution to Dementia, the judges named him The Disruptor, a moniker Dave is happy to embrace. He explains: ”My aim is to bring about change, to allow people living with a dementia to be in control and live the life they want. Our identities change, our decision-making changes, and the basis of dementia care practice should not just be based on past interests, but on who the person is now. If empowering them to lead their care and put them in the driver’s seat means being viewed as someone who disrupts the status quo, I’ll take it.”
