В Барбадосе открылась компания по уходу за пожилыми и людьми с деменцией

Asha Jones’ professional journey has taken her across tourism, sales and marketing, gerontology and therapeutic recreation; fields that today come together in the work she is building through Living Legacy Wellness. Following a profound personal loss in 2020, Asha began reflecting more deeply on the direction she wanted her life and career to take. That period led her to pursue studies in recreation management and gerontology, and also led her to gain professional experience in therapeutic recreation, with a desire to contribute meaningfully to the lives of older adults, particularly those living with dementia, cognitive changes, reduced mobility and other age-related challenges. But her journey into therapeutic recreation was not an immediate departure from her previous career. After completing her studies and returning to Barbados, she continued working in tourism, sales and marketing before eventually deciding to bring her training, experience and growing passion for healthy ageing and dementia care to the forefront. At the beginning of this year, she fully launched Living Legacy Wellness, a company created to support healthy ageing, dementia care, meaningful engagement and quality of life through a person-centred, whole-person approach. Asha is also the only certified DementiAbility Trainer in the Caribbean, giving her a unique opportunity to help build dementia-care knowledge and capacity across the region. Sitting down with  Easy  this past week, the former sales and marketing manager shared that volunteering continues to be an important part of her therapeutic recreation practice, allowing her to extend support to those who may otherwise be unable to access these services. “The philosophy behind Living Legacy is that growing older or receiving a diagnosis of dementia should not mean losing access to purpose, choice and the activities that make life meaningful. “Support begins with learning who the person is and then intentionally creating opportunities around their abilities, interests, history, routines and preferences.” Through Living Legacy Wellness, Asha provides person-centred therapeutic recreation support for older adults, including persons living with dementia. She explains that she uses the word dementia because it is the umbrella term used to describe a range of conditions affecting cognitive function, of which Alzheimer’s disease is the most common. She develops individualised opportunities for meaningful engagement based on each person’s needs, interests, skills and abilities. Her approach uses recreation and meaningful activity to support the physical, emotional, intellectual, social and spiritual dimensions of wellness while creating opportunities for independence, choice, contribution and purpose. She also provides dementia education and practical strategies for families, caregivers, professionals and communities. Technology also plays an important role in Asha’s approach.