Thirty-two special dementia workers will be employed to help Dorset sufferers, BUzz can reveal.
The new workers will be working with individual sufferers to provide on-going support to them and their families.
This follows members of the BCP Health and Wellbeing committee discussed the latest initiative yesterday.
The BCP council and its partners have been trying many different way to help people who suffer from the condition.
Alongside this, the loved ones of these patients are already being helped by day hospitals, advice services and specialist inpatient beds.
But in an attempt to decrease the number of dementia patient’s being admitted to hospital and instead stay comfortably in their homes, the new dementia role has been introduced.
What is this new role that NHS Dorset CCG is introducing?
Diane Bardwell, the Principle Programme Lead at NHS Dorset CCG, attended the BCP Health and Wellbeing board meeting.
During the meeting she informed the other members of the updates to the Dementia Services in Bournemouth.
The 32 new staff will be called dementia coordinators.
Additionally, there will also be coordinators specifically for people with early onset dementia.
This refers to people who are diagnosed with the symptoms that are aged under 65 years.
Mrs Bardwell said: “The coordinators will be a part of the primary care networks alongside the other dementia team members and multi-disciplinary teams.
“When things start to escalate, people want to know who to contact and have support in a crisis.
“It also links to the new crisis helpline, so it’s a very exciting new model.”
The new addition to the services appeared to be welcomed by the other representatives at the meeting, many of them offering to help in anyway they can.
Other people that are supporting this introduction are Right at Home, a home health care service based in Bournemouth.
The team is committed to enabling clients to live safely and happily in their own homes for as long as they can.
Marie Ariza, a Care Coordinator from Right at Home, encouraged the idea of the support service coming to the area.
She said: “Any kind of support that someone who has dementia can have is an extra bonus. It can also be a way to help support their families.”
What exactly is Dementia?
In September 2019 BCP had 4,450 people aged over 65 years diagnosed with dementia. This is 53% from the 8,338 total across the Dorset county.
Dementia is the name for a group of symptoms that commonly include issues with memory, thinking problem solving, language and perception.
Despite what some people may think, dementia is not a disease in its own right and is not a natural part of ageing.
The symptoms of dementia can surface due to other diseases that affect the brain. This can include, but is not limited to; Alzheimers, Parkinson’s disease or even a traumatic head injury.
The symptoms are caused by a loss of nerve cells and is progressive. The rate of which dementia can worsen is different for every sufferer.
It remains incurable for now, but there are still ways for doctors to slow down the progression and improve the patient’s quality of life.
Cliff Kilgore, a Consultant Geriatrician Nurse for Dorset Healthcare, had this to say about the 32 new Dementia Coordinators being introduced to Dorset. https://t.co/DYPqQYaKgo
Find the full story here: https://t.co/8ki9LFfyjg #Dementia— Lauren Neil (@LaurenNeil23) January 31, 2020
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