Award-winning Devon dementia champion and advocate turns years of experience into second book
An award-winning dementia champion, advocate and author is drawing on more than a decade of experience to publish her second book, When Time Aligns: Stories of Care from a Dementia Companion, this October.
Gina Awad has spent more than a decade championing better understanding of dementia and supporting people living with the condition, their families and carers. Her contribution was recognised with a British Empire Medal (BEM) in 2018 for her voluntary services to people with dementia in Devon, alongside a number of other awards and national recognition as Dementia Friends Champion of the Year.
Now, through When Time Aligns, Gina is drawing on those years of experience to share some of the moments, lessons and human connections that have shaped her work.
The book follows Sienna, a community dementia companion, through seven stories based on real experiences of navigating dementia and care. The stories explore subjects including moving from home care to a care home, finding support and practical help, rare dementia’s including young onset dementia (YOD) and posterior cortical atrophy (PCA), the impact of culture and distance on care, and future planning.
Alongside the stories are reflections which invite readers to look beyond the diagnosis and consider the person, the relationships and the moments of connection that remain.
For Gina, some of the most powerful moments in dementia care are often the simplest.
Being alongside someone in the moment, without trying to change it, correct it or rush it, can create a connection that needs very few words. This belief in the importance of presence, listening and seeing the person beyond the diagnosis is weaved throughout the book.
When Time Aligns is not intended to be a clinical guide to dementia. Instead, it offers human stories which aim to help readers understand the emotional landscape of dementia and perhaps see familiar experiences from a different perspective.
The book has already received warm responses from people who have had the opportunity to read it ahead of publication.
Suzy Webster, former carer for her mum who lived with hydrocephalus-related dementia, said: “I read it all in one sitting! I didn’t want to stop; it was engaging, heartbreaking and importantly hopeful.”
Tommy Dunne BEM, who lives with Alzheimer’s, said: “I personally believe that there is no better way to learn and understand about dementia than to hear the lived experience of those who are going through it.”
He described the book as an emotional “rollercoaster” which ultimately gave him “a sense of hope” and concluded: “Dementia is not the end of your life; it is the beginning of your new one.”
Gina’s hope is that the book will reach not only people directly affected by dementia, but also those who may know little about the condition and want to understand more and the public generally.
She hopes it will encourage people to look beyond the diagnosis and recognise that, even when dementia changes a person’s life, there can still be moments of meaning, connection and joy.
The timing of the publication is particularly significant. With September marking World Alzheimer’s Month, the book is published on 15 October 2026.
When Time Aligns: Stories of Care from a Dementia Companion, illustrated by Mark Hannon, is available to pre-order from Amazon and all good book sellers.
Pre-order the book: https://amzn.eu/d/0iSz1AQ1
Main image: Illustration by Mark Hannon, from the forthcoming book When Time Aligns: Stories of Care From a Dementia Companion.
