Dementia Awareness Week

Don’t bottle it up: Dementia Awareness Week

By Samuel Newton

This week marks the now annual Dementia Awareness Week, a nationwide campaign fronted by the care charity Alzheimer’s Society, aimed at generating a more thorough understanding of dementia amongst the general public. Under the slogan Don’t bottle it up, the charity is encouraging people to speak to them should they have any worries or reservations that either they or someone close to them may be suffering from dementia.

Dementia, an umbrella term which describes a set of symptoms that may include memory loss and difficulties with thinking, is catalysed when the brain is damaged by diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease or a series of strokes. There are currently estimated to be 670,000 sufferers of dementia living in the United Kingdom, while Sheffield is currently home to a figure just in excess of 6,500. Providing quality care to the people suffering from the syndrome, as well as those undiagnosed, is of high importance to Sheffield’s National Health Service.

“The provision of high quality care and support for people with dementia and their carers is a top priority for NHS Sheffield” said Dr Steve Thomas, GP and NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) Mental Health, Learning Disabilities and Dementia Portfolio clinical lead.

This care provision offered in Sheffield has recently been highlighted and celebrated in a report produced by NHS England, published in correspondence with Dementia Awareness Week, entitled Dementia Diagnosis and Care in England: Learning from Clinical Commissioning Groups. Within the report, Sheffield was earmarked for the high standard of its dementia training programmes across all care providers including general practitioners, care home staff and the council. Furthermore, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was also commended for its endeavours to ensure all new staff within a dementia-relevant role receive the training necessary to fully understand the condition and its side effects.

As well as those directly suffering from dementia, there are also new streams of support for those who may be caring for someone with dementia, such as the newly launched DementiaCarer.net website, a project jointly funded by both Sheffield City Council and NHS.

“DementiaCarer.net has been designed specifically for carers by carers, with support from ourselves and other project partners”, said Kath Horner, Health Improvement Principal from Sheffield City Council. “It provides practical tips and advice with videos of carers talking about how they cope with everyday tasks such as washing and dressing the person they care for. The carer clips also include useful tips and advice about how to stay positive, active and well – all of which is vital for people providing such important care.”

Dementia Awareness Week, which kicked off last Sunday, runs until Saturday 24^th May. Detailed information regarding dementia, its symptoms and side effects can be found on the Sheffield City Council website and NHS webpages.