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Building Dementia Confidence

Building Dementia Confidence. Steps towards dementia confidence. Know the facts Examine our attitudes Face our fears Come together. Dementia Friends. A new Alzheimer’s Society initiative Create Dementia F riendly C ommunities by recruiting 1 million Dementia Friends by March 2015

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Building Dementia Confidence

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  1. Building Dementia Confidence

  2. Steps towards dementia confidence • Know the facts • Examine our attitudes • Face our fears • Come together

  3. Dementia Friends • A new Alzheimer’s Society initiative • Create Dementia Friendly Communities by recruiting 1 million Dementia Friends by March 2015 • A Dementia Friend needs to know 5 key facts • And make a commitment as to how they can turn that understanding into action • No action is too small

  4. Key Fact 1:Dementia is not the same as normal ageing

  5. As you grow older do you find: • You forget people’s names more easily? • Words won’t come as easily? • Getting to the top of the stairs and thinking ‘what did I come up here for?’ • Your brain generally does not seem quite as ‘whizzy’ as it used to be? • If so, DON’T WORRY – THIS IS NORMAL!

  6. Key Fact 2:Dementia is caused by brain disease

  7. See the GP if: • Not just forgetting names and details but whole events or conversations • Memories do not come back even with prompting • Getting lost in familiar, rather than new, places • Finding it difficult to keep up with events and becoming disorientated • Frequently repeating conversations • Signs of progression in terms of frequency and severity of problems

  8. Healthwatch • If you are not happy with the response of your GP please get in touch with Healthwatch • New organisation to help people find the health and social care services they need and make their voices heard

  9. Causes of dementia

  10. Things that may get confused with dementia • Depression • Delirium • Vitamin B deficiency • Hypothyroidism

  11. Number of cases rises with age Age 60 - 69 1 in 50 Age 80 - 89 1 in 5 Age 70 - 79 1 in 20 Dr Elizabeth Milwain: elizabeth@brainscapes.co.uk

  12. Key Fact 3:Dementia is more than just memory loss

  13. Symptoms of dementia • Core features: • Memory – new learning • Thinking – drawing everything together • Planning and decision-making • Specific difficulties: • Language • Knowledge – old learning • Spatial awareness • Visual perception

  14. Key Fact 4:There is more to a person than just their dementia

  15. The Brain

  16. Brains within brains Understanding of the wider world Understanding me Vital functions Automatic behaviours

  17. The contracting bubble The world beyond what I can see (memory) The world I can see (vision) My body (feeling)

  18. Adaptation is the key

  19. Key Fact 5:It is possible to live well with dementia

  20. What causes suffering?

  21. What do people with dementia need? • To feel safe • To feel they have control • To feel valued • Personhood • I-Thou versus I-It

  22. What is dignity? Independence? Looks?

  23. Meeting between persons Standard Effect of dementia Therapeutic relationship

  24. Support: too much for one person

  25. Easy to say, but hard to do ‘Life in the moment’ ‘Normal life’

  26. Why are others so reluctant? • Affected families often do not welcome offers of help – stigma and denial are big problems • Most of us experience disabling emotions in the face of dementia: • Fear • Distaste • Grief • Guilt

  27. Natural movements of care “Aaahh”? Or “Eeww”? “Aaahh!”

  28. Coming together:Ideas for Dementia Friends Action • Understand more about it • Change your own attitude – learn to stand against the difficult emotions • Challenge (but with sensitivity please) the attitudes of others • Get alongside someone you know who is affected: • be willing to try • be willing to feel uncomfortable • be willing to get it wrong • Volunteer in your local community: • Support groups • Befriending of couples in which one has dementia

  29. Resources • Look at the books on the table • Gaynor Hammond’s books are especially good • Resource lists, details of helpful organisations and other useful guides are available on the Diocese of Bradford website – or get in touch with Jacqui Hand if you would like hard copies • Please fill out the interest form if you would like me to keep you informed of events and developments

  30. If you want to be counted as a Dementia Friend please put your hand up now • When I get the badges I will provide a supply to Jacqui Hand – if you would like a badge please put your name and contact details on the sign up sheet on the resources table • If you are on the internet visit www.dementiafriends.org.uk to sign up as a Dementia Friend and register your action (helpful for the Alzheimer’s Society if you do this)

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