Dementia awareness experience

Dementia Action Week

Dementia Action Week is an annual campaign that raises awareness about dementia and encourages action to support individuals affected by the condition. The campaign aims to promote understanding of dementia, reduce stigma, and encourage communities to take practical actions to create supportive environments for people living with dementia and their caregivers.

During Dementia Action Week, our Deputy Nurse Manager and John’s Campaign Ambassador, Maggie Candy, led two informative sessions for our nurses and carers.

Dementia awareness experience

Maggie covered various topics including:

• The Brain – understanding behaviours
• Main types of dementia
• Signs and symptoms
• How dementia is diagnosed
• Medications v interactions
• Dementia sensory experience
• Playlist for Life
• John’s Campaign

Dementia sensory experience

Towards the end of the session, Maggie led a sensory experience to raise awareness of the daily challenges people living with dementia can experience. Depending on the type of dementia that the individual has, it can affect their vision, co-ordination, hearing, mobility amongst other things. Staff were asked to perform simple activities such as tying shoes, opening wrapped sweets, pouring water and walking around. These activities were performed wearing ear plugs, gloves and eye glasses with smeared vision.

Staff thoughts

We asked our nurses and carers how they felt after taking part in the Dementia Awareness Training:

“I found the dementia sensory experience really insightful because it puts you in their place and makes you aware of how the person living with dementia feels. I could feel the anxiety and frustration that they must be feeling by trying to participate in simple tasks during today’s dementia sensory experience.”

“I think the training has helped a lot and I have an even better understanding of how the person living with dementia feels. It has made me realise that it is much more difficult for them to perform basic daily activities.”

“I found the training really refreshing and it is good to share information from a different perspective. I have learned some interesting facts during this experience including the person not recognising themselves, how the environment and safety are important as well as diet and holistic input from the family.”

“The most important thing I have learned today is to avoid generalistions and categorisations when caring for people living with dementia. Every person living with dementia will have a different experience and it is important for nurses and carers to have a personalised care approach. Each of us here today has had a different experience with a particular client and everybody can share and learn from each other.”

How can Cavendish Homecare help?

At Cavendish Homecare we can help support you and your loved ones with our expertise in delivering dementia care at home. We know that being diagnosed with Dementia can have a huge emotional, social, and psychological effect on both the person suffering and their family. Therefore, we ensure specialist care in the comfort of one’s own home.

Please call our Homecare team on 0203 008 5210 or email us info@cavendishhomecare.com to see how we can assist you.