Local care home hosts Dementia UK informative talk
Brampton View care home, in Northampton invited members of the local community to a Dementia UK talk focussed on “Admiral Nurses” and raising awareness of support in the community.
Penny Bell, Volunteer from Dementia UK presented to residents and guests’ valuable information on the Dementia UK charity, living with dementia, support for families and who are the Admiral Nurses. Residents and guests at the home learnt that in the UK currently there are over 944,000 people living with a diagnosis of dementia and that 700,000 of these are being cared at home by their loved ones or carers. In the past year over 225,000 individuals were diagnosed with the life changing disease, that’s a staggering diagnosis every 3 minutes across the UK! With 40% of caregivers experiencing mental health challenges through supporting their loved ones.
Penny provided a brief history on the birth of the “Admiral Nurse” who are specialist nurses in the field of dementia and provide support to those individuals and their families. Joseph Levy, known as “Admiral Joe” (due to his love for sailing), was diagnosed with vascular dementia and founded the charity (Dementia UK) to provide support when he was unable to find the support he required.
There are currently 459 Admiral Nurses in the UK, in Northampton there are 9000 people living with dementia with only 4 Admiral Nurses, Dementia UK continually fundraise to increase this numbers. Dementia UK have dedicated helps lines and offer virtual clinics which are both free and confidential. The helpline has helped more than 33,000 individuals last year!
Penny also shared her personal experience of her mum who is living with dementia and they both wanted to offer support through signposting, providing information and work hard to fundraise for the worthy charity. Through this they created their own Podcast Discovering Dementia | A podcast produced and hosted by Penny Bell which has reached individuals all over the globe and won gold for the best Wellbeing Podcast in 2021 at the British Podcast Awards
Deputy Manager Elina House said: “Dementia condition can be quite lonely and frightening, and the more understanding we have the better. Our team here at Brampton View Care Home are always seeking to host more events like this one from Dementia UK, which provides support and advice about care to anyone who needs it.”
Brampton View care home is run by Barchester Healthcare, one of the UK’s largest care providers, which is committed to delivering high-quality care across its care homes and hospitals. Brampton View provides residential care, nursing care and dementia care for 88 residents from respite care to long term stays.