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Local Care Home Celebrates Dementia Awareness Week 2016

DementiaAwardStaff and residents at Care South’s Maiden Castle House care home in Dorchester have had a fantastic time this week celebrating National Dementia Awareness Week 2016 (17th -23rd May).

Hundreds of thousands of families are touched by dementia every year and many people don’t know where to turn. Dementia Awareness Week aims to encourage anyone who is worried about dementia to confront their concerns and get in touch with local support networks to ensure that people living with dementia and their carers or families can do so with inclusion, dignity and respect.

To celebrate the week, staff at Maiden Castle House organised a number of activities to both encourage communication and awareness. To kick off proceedings, Maiden Castle House Activities Coordinator and newly-qualified Dementia Friends Champion, Jenny Webster hosted two Dementia Friends Training sessions at the home.

The Dementia Friends information sessions are run by volunteer Dementia Friends Champions, who are trained and supported by the Alzheimer’s Society. Each information session lasts around one hour and aims to teach more about dementia and how people can help to create dementia friendly communities across England and Wales.

Maiden Castle House residents also got into the spirit by taking part in fun-filled reminiscence activity sessions at the home. From discussing memories from the 1940’s and 50’s together and looking over vintage photos and picture cards, to dancing the afternoon away at a special nostalgic disco, everyone had a chance to get involved with the proceedings and had lots of fun showing off their best dance moves.

The highlight of the week was Maiden Castle House opening its doors to host a coffee morning for the local community, aimed at providing an opportunity for visitors with various experiences of living with dementia to discuss, share stories and offer support in a comfortable, open environment.

The morning was a great success and consisted of staff from Maiden Castle House, other local care professionals, relatives of residents and representatives from both the Alzheimer’s Society and Dorchester Dementia Action Alliance, of which Care South is a member.

Clare Baker, Home Manager at Care South’s Maiden Castle House care home, said: “We were very excited to celebrate Dementia Awareness Week at Maiden Castle House this year. The activities were a great opportunity to discuss Dementia openly and to let people know about the work we do at Care South to ensure our residents enjoy full, stimulating lives in a home-from-home environment.”

 

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