Posted on by Claire Robinson

Dementia Awareness Week 2016 Would you like to know more?

This week is Dementia Awareness Week 2016 so we thought it appropriate to update a blog post we featured some time ago to help raise awareness of this terrible disease and how, by becoming a Dementia Friend, it will help your understanding of people living with it …

It is true that more people over 65 have Dementia, but it is not exclusively an older person’s disease!

In 2014, Louise and I attended a short training course to become Dementia Friends, we then went on to become Dementia Champions, helping to spread the word about Dementia and understanding the affects it can have on people’s lives.

“Extra Help provides support for quite a few clients with Dementia!”

We felt it was only right to gain as much experience and knowledge as possible and to then share that knowledge with our franchisees. They can in turn share their knowledge with their home helpers, friends and family.

All of our franchisees are now trained as Dementia Friends and they always give us great feedback that they really enjoyed the session. I’d say to anyone, go to the website and find out where you could become a Dementia Friend locally to you, or do it online. It’s great fun in a group and very light-hearted, but gets the point across.

It’s really important to get the right messages about Dementia out there. It’s predicted that by 2025, a million people in the UK will be living with Dementia. Like with everything, understanding Dementia and how it affects people living with it will make a huge difference to people’s lives.

The Government, along with the Alzheimer’s Society, has a huge initiative to raise awareness about Dementia at present. The courses are free or you can become a Dementia Friend online if that’s what you’d prefer.

What is Dementia?

Dementia is caused by a number of diseases that affect the brain. The most common is, of course, Alzheimer’s, but diseases also include Vascular Dementia, Dementia with Lewy Bodies and Pick’s Disease.

Different types of Dementia affect the brain at different rates and in different ways, but other things like someone’s personal circumstances, the people around them and the environment in which they live, will affect their experience of Dementia. Dementia progresses in a way that is unique to each individual.

It is true that more people over 65 have Dementia, but it is not exclusively an older person’s disease; younger people get Dementia too.

Dementia is not a natural part of the ageing process.Five facts you need to know about Dementia:

  1. Dementia is caused by diseases of the brain.

  2. It is not just about losing your memory.

  3. It’s possible to live well with it.

  4. There is more to the person than the disease.

To find out more about becoming a Dementia Friend or Dementia Champion, do visit the Dementia Friends website or if you’d like Louise and I to run a Dementia Friends session (locally to Plymouth) for you, please email me or call me on 0845 618 2904.

Until next time …

CLAIRE ROBINSON

PS:Why not visit www.extra-help.co.uk and find out more?