Our bid for dementia friendly communities
Staff at Melin Homes have marked National Dementia week with awareness-raising sessions, memory boxes, and a book in a bid to make our communities more dementia friendly.
Written by Sam
—18 May, 2016
Staff at Melin Homes have marked National Dementia week with awareness-raising sessions, memory boxes, and a book in a bid to make our communities more dementia friendly.
Trained Dementia Friend and Living Well Manager Shona Martin has delivered informative myth-busting sessions helping staff to understand what life is like for a person living with Dementia.
The Housing Association’s Communities Team is using a book written by Caerphilly parents who didn’t know how to explain dementia to their children. The team bought 20 copies of the book called ‘The Elephant Who Forgot’ to spread the word amongst their younger residents.
People living at Melin’s sheltered schemes have been getting the benefit of Memory Box reminiscence sessions that the team has been running in conjunction with the Museums service. Scheme Manager of Abergavenny sheltered housing complex Victoria Court Laura Denyer said: " The residents were really focused and positive; people who are normally reserved and don’t speak really got engaged and enjoyed themselves.”
Mrs Martin said: “In Wales there are over 42,000 people living with dementia and as we have an ageing population the numbers are likely to increase. It makes sense then that as a caring organisation we do our best to make our services accessible.”
Melin Homes Director of Communities, Enterprise and Care Adrian Huckin said: “I’m keen to ensure that all our front line staff are armed with a greater understanding of what it is like to live with dementia. We are making great strides towards becoming a dementia friendly organisation.”
You can find a Dementia Friends session near you by visiting the Dementia Friends website.