Dementia Friends
Let’s talk about Dementia
Dementia is an umbrella term used to describe a range of neurological disorders. There are over 200 subtypes of dementia but the most common are Alzheimer’s disease and Vascular dementia.
Regardless of which type of dementia is diagnosed and what part of the brain is affected, each person will experience dementia in their own unique way. Here's a video which explains this:
According to the Alzheimer's Society, there are over 850,000 people in the UK with dementia. One in 14 people over 65 will develop dementia, and the condition affects 1 in 6 people over 80. The number of people with dementia is increasing because people are living longer. It is a common misconception that it only effects the older generation, as children as young as 5 years old can also be impacted.
The Health and Social Care course offered at Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5 teaches about living with dementia, and all students become trained as Dementia Friends through a Dementia Champion and have the opportunity to speak and have questions answered by “Dudley” who has lived with Dementia for 7 years.
Dudley is in his 70s and still works with local universities and schools helping to deliver sessions, telling stories about how he's learned to adapt to live with dementia as well as the barriers he's experienced over the years and how Dementia Friends have helped him on numerous occasions.
As a school we recognised this as an important cause. Students have formed - with the facilitation of staff - the Decaf. Over 40 people living with dementia and their carers attend each event and both (so far) have been very successful.
Due to the last event being cancelled, care packages were created and have been delivered to those who previously attended (see header images above).
The community response has been incredible, with heartfelt thanks being sent in for all our efforts and much praise for the students involved in Decaf.
All staff have now been trained as Dementia Friends and as a school we are pleased to announce we've been recognised as a Dementia Friendly school and awarded the Dementia Friends Badge.
Click here to learn more about Dementia and become a Dementia Friend