Did you know that, according to the Alzheimer’s Society, 225,000 people will develop dementia this year.1 That equates to one person every three minutes developing dementia.1
Research carried out by Alzheimer’s Society shows that many of us are worried about ‘saying the wrong thing’ to people living with dementia but in fact, two-thirds of people living with dementia say they feel isolated and lonely.2
What we do to support patients with dementia
At KIMS Hospital, we understand the impact dementia can have on our patients and we work hard to ensure we support patients with dementia whilst they are under our care. This week we have been promoting Alzheimer’s Society Dementia Action Week call to action amongst our teams. However, we don’t just do this once a year.
Dementia champions
We have hospital wide Dementia champions, both clinical and non-clinical team members who are available to support patients, their relatives and our own teams with any concerns or questions they may have. Each Dementia Champion wears a blue Forget-Me-Not flower badge so they are instantly recognisable.
Forget-Me-Not flower symbol
The Forget-Me-Not flower is used within the hospital to discreetly highlight a patient with dementia. This ensures our teams are aware and can allocate additional time for them and their relatives or carers if it is needed.
Training programme
Finally, we have a dedicated training programme for all our teams. This way we know that when a patient with dementia comes to KIMS Hospital, everyone from our customer services team through to theatres, the wards and our Physical Therapy team have the right skills to support them throughout their journey.
Why not find out a bit more about Dementia Action Week and how you can start a conversation:
https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/get-involved/dementia-action-week