Trish Blacker, Dementia Adviser at the Alzheimer’s Society, will be in attendance to deliver an update on what is available for people with dementia and their carers across the Malmesbury community area and what the community can do to support.
Minutes:
Trish Blacker, Dementia Advisor at the Alzheimer Society, was in attendance to deliver a talk on dementia awareness.
It was stated that Dementia Awareness Week would be occurring from the 19th to the 25th May 2015. The focus behind this event would be to raise money and remove the stigma behind dementia.
The dementia advice service had been running for two years as a result of people not knowing where to go for support. They were seeing an increasing number of self-referrals. The service was able to provide help to people of any age at various stages of diagnosis. The service was also open for those affected by dementia, including friends and family. It was noted that the earlier help could be provided to help people living in their own homes, the better the results would be. People were generally visited in their own homes in order to get to know them and provide tailored signposting help.
Partners working with the service included Wiltshire Good Neighbours, the Police, and other local organisations.
The role of a Dementia Support Worker involved working with those with complex needs and those at their point of crisis. It was explained that sometimes the workers would only be present for short periods, but their role was to put in coping mechanisms to help the person with dementia and their carer.
The Carer’s Information Support Programme ran as and when it was needed. In the previous year four were held in North Wiltshire. The programme ran fortnightly over the course of twelve weeks. Programme content included looking at what dementia was and how it affected a person, along with the issue of future planning.
The new role of Independent Learning Worker had opened up. The worker had been given an amount of money to use on a pilot scheme and would go out to support those with no family members or friends nearby. The worker would then work with the transport services to try and help the person with dementia stay within their own home. This position had been funded by the Alzheimer Society for twelve months. Evidence was being gathered from the scheme to move forward with it. Catherine Dyer was noted as being the Independent Learning Worker.
Information was provided on the Home Support Service. This had been set up a number of years ago, initially to provide carers with a break. The size of the break was dependent on the amount of funding available. One trained member of the Home Support Team, registered through the Care Quality Commission, would be made available to stay with the person with dementia. What the member did during this time would be decided by the person with dementia.
A number of support groups available were listed. These included: Singing for the Brain; Memory Cafés (Calne/Chippenham/Malmesbury); Carer’s Information Support Programme; Carer’s Support Group; Carer’s Day Out. The volunteer groups were noted as being largely reliant on volunteer help. There were more volunteers within the Alzheimer Society than paid staff.
People were encouraged to take part in Dementia Awareness Week. Events would include: a library stand in Calne and Corsham campus to provide information; opportunities to become a dementia friend; and a Dementia Tea Party in the Malmesbury hub.