Making 2017 a ‘Dementia Friendly’ Year

An East Sussex care home has made an unusual New Year’s resolution. It has pledged that all its staff members will become ‘dementia friends’ this year, to help make the local area a dementia friendly community.

Clifden House dementia care centre in Seaford has joined Dementia Friends, an Alzheimer’s Society initiative that helps people learn about what it’s like to live with dementia and then turn that knowledge into action.

Dementia Friends encourages people to make pledges, such as visiting someone with dementia, raising money, wearing the badge and spreading the word, or simply being more patient when out in the community.

Nial Joyce of Clifden House said: “As a specialist dementia care home we have first hand knowledge of the disease and appreciate how challenging this condition can be to the person and their carers.

“We pride ourselves on running a ‘dementia friendly’ home – we have colour coded doors and walkways for ease of navigation, a relaxed ‘café-style’ dining area and bespoke resident-focused activities to stimulate.

“We signed up because we want to ensure that all our staff have access to training and information on dementia as part of their induction process and on-going professional development. It also ensures our staff are dementia friendly ambassadors in the community.”

Clifden House’s target is that all 50 staff will become ‘dementia friends’ over the next year.