187: The 'D' Word with Pete Hill - Episode 187

187: The 'D' Word with Pete Hill - Episode 187

Get ready to be moved by real-life accounts of dementia, care, and the quiet power of storytelling. This conversation between host Pete Hill and returning guest Darren Evans, founder of AfterCloud, focuses on how capturing life stories can change care for people living with dementia and beyond. You’ll hear how AfterCloud has grown over six years from an end-of-life moments app into Storyteller, a platform now used in both children’s and adult social care.

Darren explains how families can build rich timelines using photos, audio, video, documents and music, which then link to a simple QR code on a resident’s door. With a quick scan, care staff gain real context about the person behind the diagnosis – whether they’re a lifelong West Ham supporter or a former cartoonist for the Beano. Pete and Darren talk frankly about how social care can feel top-down and how families often feel sidelined during admission.

Storyteller’s pre-admission approach aims to change that by involving families early and supporting genuinely person-centred, or relation-centred, care. As Darren puts it, this isn’t about ticking boxes; it’s about deep, meaningful knowledge that lets carers respond to the person, not just the clinical label. The episode also touches on the difference between life story work and reminiscence therapy, the idea of "intangible cultural heritage", and emerging research into speech as a window into cognitive health.

Darren shares long-term hopes for earlier dementia detection through voice analysis, backed by large data sets built ethically through care partnerships. Running through the whole chat is a simple message: people can live well with dementia, and carers in social care are doing vital, often under-recognised work.

If you care for someone with dementia, work in social care, or just believe every life story matters, this one might get you thinking about what you’d want your own timeline to say about you.