Dementia Action Week is an active, national campaign running from Monday 13th May to Sunday 19th May.
The purpose of the week is to raise awareness of Dementia and the services and care that are available for patients and their families.
What is Dementia?
Dementia is not a specific disease but a general term for the loss of memory, language, problem-solving skills and decision-making*. Interfering with daily life and everyday activities, Dementia refers to the ongoing decline of brain functioning and is the seventh leading cause of death**.
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of Dementia, but other causes include vascular disease and Lewy body disease – which gradually develop over many years. Dementia is progressive, which means symptoms may be relatively mild initially, and worsen over time***.
Dementia in Lincolnshire
Dementia effects over 12,000 people in Lincolnshire, with a higher proportion of people living with Dementia in the county, than the UK average.
Director of Patient Care at St Barnabas Hospice, Becky Franks, speaks on the importance of this week: “Dementia Action Week is important to help raise awareness of the rise in the number of people living with dementia – this is estimated to be over one million people in the UK by 2025.
“Therefore, almost all of us will know someone living with dementia, and they and their families may well benefit from the advice and support our specialist dementia nurse service can offer them.
“As the patient numbers rise so will the demand for services such as ours, and at St Barnabas we continue to charitably fund this service for Lincolnshire.”
Dementia Support at St Barnabas
St Barnabas offers a Dementia support service for the people of Lincolnshire through our Specialist Dementia Nurses. Working in partnership with Dementia UK, the Hospice offer this essential service for Dementia patients and their families.
Since the service began in the middle of 2019, it has supported 1,230 families in Lincolnshire, and has provided 1,665 hours of face-to-face clinical contact and 1,708 hours of support over the phone.
Tom Rose, Admiral Nurse Clinical Lead, supports Becky’s sentiment: “Dementia Action Week is an important opportunity to do just that. Awareness is better than it used to be, but there is still a long way to go. Whether it’s accessing a timely diagnosis, adjusting to a life altering diagnosis, dealing with changes to health, finances, and relationships or contemplating a very different future, people and families living with Dementia often face a very uncertain and ever shifting situation. But there are lots of things we can do.
“Whether its supporting Dementia Friendly Communities so that people are not excluded because of a diagnosis, improving training for health and social care professionals so that Dementia is not a barrier to care, or ensuring that those living with Dementia are able to have a choice about what their end of life care may look like, there is something that we can all do to improve the lives of those effected.
“I lead the specialist Admiral Nurse service at St Barnabas and our aim is to help the whole family affected by Dementia. Helping them find stability in uncertain times, providing expert clinical support, and advocating for them on the local and national stage.”
At St Barnabas Hospice, specialist Dementia Nurses, like Tom, work together with families to provide the one- to-one support, expert guidance and practical solutions they need to live more positively with Dementia each and every day.
To find out more about Dementia Support Services, please visit the St Barnabas Hospice website.
Resources
*Dementia UK – https://www.dementiauk.org/information-and-support/about-dementia/
**World Health Organisation – https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/dementia
***Alzheimer’s Society – https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/blog/difference-between-dementia-alzheimers-disease