There are many people in the UK with a dementia and this is expected to increase as we are living longer. Although dementia is normally associated with older people, there are also a significant number of people who develop dementia earlier in life and there are many different types of dementia.
‘Living well with dementia – a National Dementia Strategy’ was published in February 2009. It sets out a vision for transforming and improving UK dementia services to achieve more awareness around the illness, early diagnosis by recognising the symptoms and ensuring that suffers receive a high quality care which promotes their dignity at all times. Please see www.dh.gov.uk/en/SocialCare/NationalDementiaStrategy for more information on the Dementia Strategy and publications that can be downloaded.
All types of dementia are progressive which means that the structure and the chemistry of the brain will become increasingly damaged over time. There are many types of dementia. The most common are Alzheimers Disease, vascular demenia and dementia with Lewy Bodies. See the website www.alzheimers.org.uk for loads more information.
At C & S Care Services we strive to ensure that all our care staff are educated to the highest standard by our In House trainers. When carers first start with us they undergo our Induction course which teaches some basic knowledge of what dementia is and how to cope with it. Those who choose to pursue dementia as a specialism within their care field will attend our 3 day Advanced Dementia course where they get thorough training into this complex illness. Care staff firstly look at themselves and their core beliefs whilst compiling a montage of images and text from newspapers and magazines which represents themselves – the aim of this is to imagine if they did not have capacity to communicate to strangers about their needs and likes, a stranger would get a good idea of their core values.
We believe that once a person / carer understands what they would want if they were in a position of needing care and being extremely vulnerable, that this would give them a greater understanding and empathy to a person with dementia. The course then goes into a much deeper analysis of the different types of dementia and how carers can adopt an approach to the Service User which will put them at their ease and enable them to feel valued and comforted. This is no mean feat!!
Any one interested in attending our Advanced Dementia course can call us on 01902 810174 or check out our candscare.co.uk
