1. The National Dementia Declaration lists seven outcomes that the DAA are seeking to achieve for people with dementia and their carers. How would you describe your organisation’s role in delivering better outcomes for people with dementia and their carers?

Home Instead Senior Care East Nottinghamshire & Melton Mowbray Office is part of a global organisation that is committed to providing its clients with the continuity of care that allows for the client and the CAREGiver to develop and strong and meaningful relationship.

The new training programme Changing Aging through Research and Education (“CARE”), accredited by City & Guilds, has been developed especially for Home Instead Senior Care whose caregivers provide at-home care for older people, enabling them to remain in their own homes for longer than would otherwise be possible. It is the only home care provider in the country to have received accreditation from City & Guilds for a dementia training programme.

The programme teaches innovative techniques for dealing with dementia. Rather than focus on the symptoms and treatments of the disease, caregivers are trained in effective techniques for managing the many different and sometimes challenging behaviours associated with dementia including refusal, delusions, aggression, false accusations, wandering, agitation. A key outcome is that caregivers learn to respect the person with dementia as an individual and observe, honour and support their lives.

 This year Home Instead Senior Care will roll out a “slimmed down” family version of the training to enable family members to learn more about the disease and develop skills and techniques to help support  their family member who is living with dementia. These three modules can be undertaken individually so that the family member can choose the relevant part of the course to suit their needs.

2. What are the challenges to delivering these outcomes from the perspective of your organisation?

We currently provide care for clients predominantly in Rushcliffe which is very rural.

The main challenges we face are:

• sourcing CAREGivers in the community in which our clients live throughout this large geographic area east of Nottingham
• developing a “relationship” with the local Medical Centres/Doctor’s Surgeries so that our service is one of the options available to their patients and families to make an informed decision based on all the solutions available locally.
• Earlier diagnosis and access to support and information