New dementia partnership devised to help family carers

A new dementia partnership has been announced between Dementia Adventure and health and social care provider Care UK.

The new initiative will run for the next year and see the introduction of a programme of free events organised by Dementia Adventure, aimed at providing support to a number of family carers and people living with dementia.

Neil Mapes, director of Dementia Adventure, said: “With dementia affecting 820,000 people in the UK and a startling 25 million people having a close friend or family member living with the condition, there is a real and pressing need to provide easy access to professional support and information, and to ensure there are places people can go where they can share individual experiences.

“We are therefore thrilled to be working with Care UK to host an extensive programme of free events at its care homes. We are looking forward to giving family carers a far more positive understanding of dementia, as well as ‘living well’ tips, resources and models to aid interaction and communication with loved ones – to see the person and not the condition.”

Mr Mapes previously co-ordinated a ‘Home Outdoors’ training programme for a team of care staff at Tall Trees care home in Colchester. The three day course allowed the home manager, Katherine Foley to develop the skills and confidence required to organise trips for people living with dementia.

Care UK and Dementia Adventure organised a pilot of ten free advice sessions at a number of UK based care homes. The sessions received positive feedback from over 300 people and there are plans to introduce more sessions across the country.

The head of dementia at Care UK, Maizie Mears-Owen, said: “The events which took place during the pilot were evaluated according to the feedback we received, and were considered to be effective, inspiring and practical. We therefore took the decision to continue to work with Dementia Adventure on a far more wide-reaching events programme for the next 12 months.

Care UK care home, Larkland House in Ascot held a Dementia Adventure event on Wednesday 5 November. Care UK care homes will hold a further 25 events during the next year and there are plans to add extra events.

All Dementia Adventure events, are designed to offer family carers support and help them have a better understanding of how life might be to live with dementia, as well as improving communication.

Ms Mears-Owen added: “Dementia Adventure is an incredibly exciting organisation which really does make a positive difference to the lives of carers and people living with dementia. By working together we can continue to empower those affected by the condition, while also supporting people living with dementia to remain connected and lead active and fulfilled lives.”

Dementia Adventure, designs and conducts short breaks and holidays for small groups of people living with dementia and their carers, helping them to remain connected with themselves and the environment around them.

Event attendees will be given a copy of ‘Listen, talk, connect’ guide created by Care UK, the guide was created by families, specialists and professionals with experience offering dementia care support.

Care UK provides health and social care services throughout the UK, including care homes and home care services.

For more information, visit: www.careuk.com/dementia-events