Two new campaigns launched to support people with dementia

2010-03-04 11:55:37

The government and the Alzheimer’s Society have both launched new campaigns to help support the nation’s 820,000 dementia sufferers. Care services minister Phil Hope is leading the ‘Living Well’ programme, which was developed after government research showed that a third of people are uncomfortable around dementia sufferers. The programmes will use TV and radio to raise public awareness about the condition and demonstrate simple ways to help people who have dementia. It aims to show that, with the right support, friends or relatives can help sufferers cope with the condition and carry on doing normal things for many years. Mr Hope comments: ‘Dementia doesn’t discriminate and neither should we. Our research shows that too often people fear dementia and this causes them to avoid people with the condition, making them feel isolated and stigmatised. We want to start to break down this stigma.’ The Alzheimer’s Society’s scheme, entitled ‘This is me’ was developed to improve standards of dementia care in hospitals. Patients or carers fill in a leaflet describing themselves and their individual needs, which is then passed to healthcare staff. As well as promoting person-centred care, the initiative also aims to help care workers to cope better with challenging behaviour from patients. It is hoped that ‘This is me’ will lead to a more consistent quality of dementia care, and help reverse a current trend of patients leaving hospital in a poorer condition than when they were admitted – both findings from recent Alzheimer’s Society reports.