At the 5/22 PPG meeting, it was agreed to continue with our work in the dementia friends initiative that began 2 years ago but lapsed under Covid.
This is an initiative devised by the Alzheimer’s Society, which involves working through an extensive programme of changes to our Practices to make them better at supporting patients who have had a diagnosis of dementia. It is also beneficial to the patient’s families and carers.
The areas covered are:
General Practice systems
General Practice culture
Diagnosis and Care
Physical environment – involving a ‘walkthrough’ our practice by a patient beginning in the car park right through to actually sitting opposite the doctor or nurse
Our team are of the increasing belief that working to improve care for dementia patients not only leads to benefits for the patients but also for the practice staff and the whole community.
Working on our ‘Dementia Friendly (DF) programme has shown us that people’s attitudes change once they are educated about tackling the difficult issues around this diagnosis. This helps with the fear, stigma and misconceptions about the illness and promotes ‘caring in the community’. This is probably the most important change we need to make to support families living with dementia.
So far we have:
Worked with the Practice team to develop a DF Toolkit. This will always be a ‘work in progress' as things can be continually improved – especially with the help, comments and support of the active PPG members
Held 2 DF Information Sessions - one in Chesterfield and one in Hasland. Over 100 people attended with 85 new dementia friends made
Negotiated with The Alzheimer’s Society for Luiza, a Dementia Support Worker, to be made available for families living with dementia
Held a stall in a marquee at the Hasland Summer Gala along with the Alzheimer’s Society, Hasland Resource Centre and the local Lloyds Pharmacy. This was a big success with many people signing up to come along to a DF information session or to join the PPG and to help Hasland become a DF Village - or all 3!
Triggered a movement for Hasland to become a DF Village. This is an exciting development, which began with the PPG but has escalated into a community initiative with great potential to improve the lives of the estimated 400 families living with dementia in Hasland
Held a DF Information Session for all of our Practice staff and clinicians so that they have all become Dementia Friends
We will be arranging further dementia-friendly education sessions that all patients can attend and also be asking the Practice that all new staff receive this training. We will inform you when a new session is available.
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