Hold the Moment

Helpline: Tips on dealing with a dementia diagnosis

A dementia diagnosis can be a shock and it also can be a relief. 
If you’re looking for support, resources and guidance on what to do after you or someone you love has been diagnosed with dementia, this bonus episode is your simple how-to guide. 
If you’d like personalised support on what to do once you’ve been diagnosed, you can contact the National Dementia Helpline on 1800 100 500. You can call 24 hours a day or request a callback, start a webchat or send an email with whatever is on your mind. 
There are many helpful Dementia Australia resources and programs to support you and your loved ones following a dementia diagnosis. We can also connect you with peers who have been through what you’re going through right now. 
Find resources online or register for Dementia Australia’s peer support program. 
You can find out more about Dementia Australia’s BrainTrack app here.  
You can also listen to this episode of Hold the Moment to hear more stories of real people navigating life after diagnosis. 
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Hold the Moment is a podcast from Dementia Australia, produced by Deadset Studios and hosted by Jim Rogers and Hamish Macdonald. 
Follow Dementia Australia on Facebook and Instagram or find support resources on our website. 
This episode was hosted by Jim Rogers and Kristin, a National Dementia Helpline Advisor. It was produced by Luci McAfee. Executive producers are Grace Pashley and Kellie Riordan. 
The National Dementia Helpline is funded by the Australian Government. 
Dementia Australia and Deadset Studios acknowledge the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and recognises their continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today. 
Dementia Australia acknowledges and appreciates the support of the Australian Government for this initiative.

Where to from here – What to do after being diagnosed with dementia

Jim Rogers didn’t see it coming. “It was almost like an out-of-body experience,” he says. “It was as though time stood still.”  
Only a few months earlier, life for Jim was as it had always been. He and his husband Tyler were both busy, focused on their careers and very social. But Jim’s colleagues noticed he would occasionally forget important details at work. Little did he know this seemingly innocuous symptom would lead to a dementia diagnosis. 
In the first episode of Hold the Moment, Jim shares the story of his own diagnosis with his co-host, broadcaster and journalist Hamish Macdonald. He then meets, Catherine, a kindergarten teacher from Sydney who shares the frightening accident that led to her own diagnosis and what gives her hope in the dark moments.  
In Hold the Moment, Jim and Hamish talk to people living with dementia about their diagnosis experience, their new lifestyles and, most importantly, the changes, habits and mindsets that have helped them find positivity and peace in the moment.  
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Hold the Moment is a podcast from Dementia Australia, produced by Deadset Studios and hosted by Jim Rogers and Hamish Macdonald.  
For support, you can contact the National Dementia Helpline on 1800 100 500 (24 hours a day, seven days a week). The National Dementia Helpline is funded by the Australian Government.  
Follow Dementia Australia on Facebook and Instagram or find support resources on our website. 
This episode was produced by Liam Riordan. Sound design by Sean Holden. The executive producers are Grace Pashley and Kellie Riordan. Production manager is Ann Chesterman. 
Dementia Australia and Deadset Studios acknowledge the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and recognises their continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today. 
Dementia Australia acknowledges and appreciates the support of the Australian Government for this initiative. 

Introducing Hold the Moment, a podcast by people living with dementia

"You could’ve knocked me off my chair. It was like time stood still."
Jim Rogers was blindsided by his diagnosis of younger onset Alzheimer’s disease in his 50s. He didn’t see a dementia diagnosis coming, and yet it changed almost everything.
The way you sleep, exercise, travel around, and even how you interact with your loved ones will change after a diagnosis. So how do you even start to process all these changes?
On Hold the Moment, you’re not alone. Join Jim and his co-host, journalist and broadcaster Hamish Macdonald whose father has dementia with Lewy bodies and Parkinson’s, as they learn how people with dementia are managing their changing circumstances.
We’ll also bring in a few experts along the way for advice on the especially tricky stuff, like getting your legal affairs in order.
Follow Hold the Moment wherever you get your podcasts so you don’t miss an episode. And share it with anyone you know who has a dementia diagnosis or who knows someone who does.  
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Hold the Moment is a podcast from Dementia Australia, produced by Deadset Studios and hosted by Jim Rogers and Hamish Macdonald.
For support, you can contact the National Dementia Helpline on 1800 100 500 (24 hours a day, seven days a week). The National Dementia Helpline is funded by the Australian Government.
Follow Dementia Australia on Facebook and Instagram or find support resources on our website.
This episode was produced by Liam Riordan. Sound design by Sean Holden. The executive producers are Grace Pashley and Kellie Riordan. Production manager is Ann Chesterman.
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and recognise their continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.
Dementia Australia acknowledges and appreciates the support of the Australian Government for this initiative.