Dementia care becomes indispensable part of live-in carers’ training - LIVE-IN care agency Corinium Care has trained more than 200 people in dementia care in the last year in response to increasing demand.
Dementia care becomes indispensable part of live-in carers’ training
By Asa Stevens
Dec 2, 2010 - 7:36:52 AM
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 facts
Dementia 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.
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