LIVE-IN care agency Corinium Care has trained more than 200 people in
dementia care in the last year in response to increasing demand.
The company, based in Gloucestershire, provides free training in a raft of subjects for new carers.
Earlier this year it started to offer special one-day refresher training in dementia care to all their existing carers.
It then launched a one-day seminar in
dementia care for relatives of elderly clients.
Managing Director of Corinium Care, Camilla Miles, said that helping carers to communicate with their clients is vital for the wellbeing of both parties.
“People with
dementia can often feel frightened, confused, threatened and incapable,” she said.
“If carers haven’t come across that before, they need help to deal with it. There isn’t enough training out there for
dementia care – not even for doctors and nurses - so we decided to provide it ourselves. We feel passionately about it.”
Carers undergoing
dementia care training appreciated the opportunity to widen their knowledge.
Beverley Phillips, whose client has dementia, said: “Dementia is a can of worms yet to be unleashed in the UK and people are only just waking up to the seriousness of the situation.
“In my small way I’d like to help spread the word that
dementia is not a stigma, and not something to be swept under the carpet.
“Everyone should get a better understanding and do what they can to help those with dementia retain as much dignity and quality of life as possible.”
Training sessions in dementia care take place at Corinium Care’s offices in
Nailsworth. Carers are given examples of what to expect from someone with dementia and offered solutions as to how to manage it.
“We can’t expect a client with
dementia to adapt to us – we have to adapt to them and communicate in a way which puts them at ease,” said Mrs Miles.
“There are many ways of doing that – building up the client’s self-esteem, expressing ideas in a positive way, avoiding the word ‘don’t’, not asking questions they can’t answer.”
She added that one of the most difficult aspects of
dementia to grasp is the loss of logic and reason. “What should a carer do if the client puts toothpaste on her toothbrush, then brushes her hair with it?” she asked.
“Everything takes time too. But it’s important that our clients are allowed to do things for themselves and feel at the end of it that they’ve achieved something.”
She pointed out that a lot of the unusual habits which people with
dementia adopt, like wearing odd clothes, or drinking their tea out of a saucer, are a reflection of our own perception of received behaviour.
“If we try to teach them to act differently, we are expecting them to adapt, which is unlikely to happen. What we have to ask ourselves is: does it matter? Is the client putting herself at risk?”
Mrs Miles, who set up
Corinium Care in 1995, said: “We have the opportunity to provide one-to-one dementia care in a dignified and safe environment and to allay fears in what can be a very uncertain future for the client and their families.”
The award-winning agency, based in George Street, has 800 registered carers on its books. It has
15 staff at its head office in
Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, as well as recruitment offices in
New Zealand,
Zimbabwe and
South Africa.
Dementia factsDementia is the term used to describe symptoms that occur when the brain is affected by specific diseases and conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease.
There are more than 100 different types of
dementia.
Symptoms include loss of memory, mood changes, anxiety, and communication problems. It is a terminal condition.
There are about 680,000 people with
dementia in the UK. According to government statistics, the number is forecast to increase by 38 per cent in the next 15 years.
One in five people over 80 has a form of
dementia, and one in 20 people over 65 has a form of
dementia. Two thirds of care home residents have dementia.
The number of older people in Gloucestershire is above the national average: in 2006 there were an estimated 8,000 people in the county, aged 65 and over, living with dementia. This is projected to rise by 50 per cent to nearly 12,000 in 2025.
Each year, £32m in government funding goes towards finding new treatments and ways of preventing or curing Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of
dementia. The Alzheimer’s Society, whose patron is author Sir Terry Pratchett, says it’s not enough.
Three walking sticks, five wheelchairs, 14 walking frames, and a host of other equipment are on the way to help elderly people in Africa, thanks to Corinium Care.