Zoom brings people living with dementia together

Zoom brings people living with dementia together

Suzanne Osborne

Since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, Trent Dementia have been facilitating Zoom coffee and chat sessions, craft activities and an online peer support group. More recently there’s been a series of short talks too.

The Zoom platform works well overall. It’s provided an opportunity for people to meet existing and new friends virtually.

As there are no physical boundaries, it’s also possible for folk from a much wider area to join in.

Breakout rooms can be used if people find the sessions overwhelming.

The Trent Dementia team are also able to offer support to anyone struggling to get connected.

There are of course downsides to using Zoom. Some people aren’t online, don’t have a device that would work with Zoom or aren’t interested in joining virtual meetings.

And whilst Zoom is definitely not a replacement for face-to-face meetings, it does offer a different opportunity to connect people living with and affected by dementia.