CHARITY LAUNCHES NEW DEMENTIA WEBSITE IN GLOUCESTERSHIRE
The phrase ‘senior moment’, a light-hearted way to explain temporary forgetfulness, is always being used these days. However, when that forgetfulness isn’t temporary but is a permanent, degenerative disease that means your loved one gets ‘stolen away’ as their memory worsens, it’s no longer a joke. They forget who friends and family members are, experience personality and behaviour changes, lose the ability to carry on a conversation or get out and socialise or respond to their environment and become unable to care for their own personal needs. Over 8,000 people in Gloucestershire have dementia. Dementia currently affects nearly 80,000 people in the South West area, yet only one in three currently have a diagnosis. This figure is set to rise to over 102,000 by 2021, an increase of 40%, with a number of communities facing increases in excess of 50%. The recent BBC drama ‘Exiles’ has helped bring attention to what is often a hidden issue. Most media coverage highlights medical breakthroughs but doesn’t often tell us about what people who have dementia and the people who care for them experience, day-to-day. They often feel isolated and stigmatised, and reliable, accurate, county-specific information and support can be very hard to obtain. National charity, Guideposts Trust, has launched DementiaWeb for Gloucestershire, a web-based support site, to help people with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, and the people who care for them, get the information, advice and support they need.
Dementiaweb Gloucestershire is the fourth DementiaWeb site to be launched by Guideposts Trust, with three others in Oxfordshire, Warwickshire and Kent & Medway. It is hoped that eventually there will be a DementiaWeb for each county in England and Wales. The aim of Dementiaweb is to enable everyone – people with dementia, carers, professionals and voluntary groups - to access accurate, information about all aspects of dementia, local services, groups, events and contacts throughout Gloucestershire. It provides a true ‘one-stop shop’ for all users of dementia services.
Caring for a loved one with dementia can be the most difficult job that someone ever does, not only because of the nature of the disease but also the emotional upheaval. Being diagnosed with dementia can cause fear, depression and anger and feelings of hopelessness and loneliness. These feelings can often make researching even the simplest bits of necessary information and help difficult. Unlike many other diseases, there is a lack of understanding, sympathy and offers of help, all of which can, over a period of time, leave carers or people living with dementia feeling very isolated. DementiaWeb removes that isolation by providing information on everything you need to know and links to specialist organizations that have the expertise and knowledge you require if you are in this situation. Feedback from people using Dementiaweb and the related DISC helpline (Dementia Information Service for Carers) in other areas has been overwhelmingly positive: “I found the whole site easy to use and packed with useful information,” said one user in Warwickshire, and in Kent, “I feel more able to cope, now I know where to go. I feel less anxious, more reassured and more able to plan for the future.”
The details on support and activity groups listed by DementiaWeb gives that much needed lifeline to new friends and like-minded acquaintances; thus making the worthwhile job of caring for someone and coping with Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia that little bit easier to cope with.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
DementiaWeb Gloucestershire http://www.dementiawebgloucestershire.org.uk
Contact email: info@dementiawebgloucestershire.org.uk
By post at:
Dementiaweb Gloucestershire
Guideposts Trust
44 Regent Street
Rugby CV21 2PS
DISC Helpline (Dementia Information Service for Carers) 0845 437 9901 phone in office hours.
Carers can also receive a copy of The Guidepost Trust’s ‘Hints and Tips for Carers’ by phoning 01993 772886 or emailgpt@guidepoststrust.org.uk
