We’re delighted to have hosted this online panel discussion Approaches to Care with panellists including Subitha Baghirathan, Dr David Sheard and Ramses Underhill-Smith, chaired by Keziah Wenham-Kenyon.

We explored different approaches to care for older adults, the considerations that are taken to support adults in their later years, and the issues and complexities around this.

Ad Infinitum's latest theatre project, If You Fall, is exploring the care system in the UK for older people. A key part of our process has been gathering stories and testimony from many different people who have experience of care for older adults.

This event took take place on Zoom on Thursday 17th February 2022. The event was live captioned and had two BSL interpreters.

MEET THE PANELLISTS

Subitha Baghirathan

Subitha Baghirathan has been a race equality activist in Bristol since 2000. The terms ‘hard to reach’ and ‘the BAME community’ make her gnash her teeth. Subitha works in a range of roles, usually firmly in the local voluntary and community sector, with partners across different sectors: learning about and improving health inequalities experienced by people of Caribbean and South Asian origins in particular. She is a member of the Working Group on dementia and people of Caribbean, Chinese, South Asian and African origins (coordinated by the Dementia HIT) founded the 2016 UWE study on this topic which she carried out in 2016. Her other work includes Type 2 diabetes prevention; encouraging physical activity; demystifying stigmas and misinformation around mental ill-health. She is also a published author and poet.

Dr David Sheard

David worked for 14 years as a social worker in hospital and community settings, specialising in dementia care and mental health, including a joint social work and lecturing post in the Department of Health Care of the Elderly at the University of Nottingham Medical School. He left the NHS to set up Dementia Care Matters and was the Founder and CEO for 23 years, up to 2017. He became a global pioneer and world leader in evidencing culture change, focussed on improving quality of life for people living with a dementia, promoting personhood and on evaluating care models. David is Professor of Emotional Intelligence in Care at York St John University.

Ramses Underhill-Smith

Ramses (he/him) is an entrepreneur and the Managing Director of Alternative Care Services, the UK’s first, independent LGBTQI* domiciliary care provider. He is a passionate campaigner for LGBTQI rights and a transgender black man, who has worked alongside the British Red Cross, Opening Doors London, and FTM London, to name a few charities.

The panel will be chaired by Keziah Wenham-Kenyon

With solid experience in audio production and content creation, Keziah has worked collaboratively with spoken word, visual and music artists to produce engaging content in podcast, video, and digital audio tour formats. Pairing multimedia production with strong social ethics he has worked with Ujima Radio, Crack Magazine, Bristol Open Doors and Rife Magazine to produce versatile work that engages with challenging or topical issues that reframe narratives and empower more pathways into the industry. Keziah produced the second season of our podcast Home From Home.

HOME FROM HOME - PODCAST SERIES

Listen to Home From Home - our two season podcast which takes a closer look at care for older people, including from perspectives that are underrepresented and intersections that require more compassion-led, people-focused support than traditional forms of care are currently providing. Available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and here on our website.