Care Home Residents Mark Dementia Action Week

Staff and residents at Barchester’s Shelburne Lodge care home in High Wycombe marked Dementia Action Week which took place from 15 – 21 May.

Dementia is the loss of cognitive functioning – thinking, remembering, reasoning – which can affect a person’s day to day life and activities. Functions that can be impacted are memory, language skills, visual perception, problem solving, self-management and the ability to focus and pay attention. The number of people living with dementia in the UK is forecast to increase to over 1m.

At Barchester, we have been supporting families with pioneering dementia care in specially-designed, dementia-friendly Memory Lane communities since 1992. We strongly believe people living with dementia should enjoy a fulfilled and happy life, with specialist support to continue doing the things they love every day. All Barchester staff receive dementia care training to ensure we provide the best for our residents, and we embrace the very latest technology and techniques to ensure our residents can live a life that feels comfortable, enriching and connected.

General Manager, Diana Nica, said:
“Dementia affects many of our residents so all staff receive specialist dementia training to provide person-centred care at the heart of everything we do. We are proud to provide an environment that helps residents to find their way around independently as much as possible, and that residents are happy to call home.”

During Dementia Action Week, residents spent time taking a trip down memory lane and spent time playing traditional games and board games, keeping fit with music and movement with our favourite old time classic songs and to finish the week Shelburne Lodge hosted its very own Dementia Café with guest speaker Leon Smith, Barchester Dementia Care Specialist. Leon spoke to family, friends of the home and members of the community all about Dementia and the effect it can have on people’s lives.