Wendy Mitchell is the author of the Sunday Times Best Seller: Somebody I Used to Know, chronicling her experiences since being diagnosed with dementia. Wendy has also appeared on several shows such as, This Morning and the Victoria Derbyshire Show to speak about her life with dementia, the changes she’s had to make and how society treats people with dementia. For Just Caring legal, Wendy has written her views on how we can build a more dementia-friendly society, a subject that needs much attention.
Figures suggest that by 2050, 1.3 million people will be living at home with dementia. This is a condition that has embedded itself in our society and affects families across the generations. More support and understanding is needed to build a dementia friendly UK, but to also ensure that people with dementia get what they’re entitled to, such as services and/or the chance to access NHS Continuing Healthcare funding.
Wendy’s blog is also available here.
How we can truly build a dementia-friendly UK, by Wendy Mitchell.
When people hear the word ‘dementia’ they often think purely of the end stages. They forget that dementia has a beginning and a middle with lots of living still to do, albeit in a different way at times. Alzheimer’s Society figures show that a third of people diagnosed with dementia live in their own homes and so are very much still part of the local community. Even those that reside in Care Homes should still be part of the wider community, so we need to increase the public understanding of dementia and the challenges it throws at those of us with the disease within the community.
Until we normalise TALKING about dementia there will still be ignorance and fear. We’ve come a long way with talking about cancer – the Big C as it used to be known – we now need to talk openly about dementia. Yes it is a bummer of a diagnosis, yes we have daily struggles and challenges to overcome but all this would be much easier if communities, services and the general public understood these better.
When diagnosed, there is often that feeling of being abandoned. Nothing clinicians can do except prescribe the limited medication available and ante depressants… yet there is so much more. If we went away from the medical model and instead concentrated on social prescribing, there is so much more that CAN be done.
Practical, emotional, financial support for the whole family would lead to less feelings of despair. After all when we get a diagnosis so does the whole family. People diagnosed with Young Onset may still be in employment, still have a mortgage, have young children. None of this is dealt with at diagnosis. Peer support can be a life changer when diagnosed.
There is nothing more comforting than hearing others say, ‘Oh yes, that happens to me’. ‘Did you know you might be entitled to …” It shows you’re not alone.
So often it’s simply a case of ‘You don’t know what you don’t know’ so why is there not more social prescribing?
There are tiny pockets of brilliance dotted around the country but these pockets of brilliance are far outweighed by the holes of isolation and poor services and knowledge.
Simple changes like more appropriate signage is an instant win in towns and buildings of any sort. Eye level, not high up where people with dementia simply don’t look.
When new buildings are designed, why aren’t the very people who are to benefit involved from the design stage?
After all, if you get it right for people with dementia, you get it right for so many other people in society…
But for me, a smiley face can ease a thousand worries and anxieties. A smiley face costs nothing out of anyone’s budget or purse…
One option for support may be NHS Continuing Healthcare funding which is fully funded care specifically for anybody who has a ‘primary health need.’ Many people with dementia may qualify but few are informed about this option. If you have questions about NHS Continuing Healthcare then contact Rosalind Hughes at Just Caring Legal today. Call now on 0191 556 1078 or email us at [email protected].