New toolkit to help Hampshire businesses and organisations tackle dementia challenge

Hampshire County Council have announced a partnership with Innovations in Dementia, a national community interest company, in order to help local communities find ways to achieve a more dementia-friendly outlook, in particular through working with local businesses and organisations.

In support of some of Hampshire’s most vulnerable citizens, a new toolkit has been made available, that draws upon expert mental health research, enabling users to ascertain how both indoor and outdoor environments can be tailored to benefit people diagnosed with dementia.

Announcing the new toolkit as part of Dementia Awareness Week, the local authority has pledged its commitment to tackling the challenges presented by conditions like Alzheimer’s over the next two decades, while supporting the National Dementia Challenge outlined this year by the Prime Minister.

Councillor Felicity Hindson, executive member for adult social care, commented: “We want people and communities to better understand the needs of those with dementia and the help they need in everyday activities. For example they may need help to find things they wish to buy when shopping and it can take longer for them to take out the right money to pay for their goods.

“The toolkit is mainly aimed at local businesses and organisations and is designed for them to find out from people with dementia and their carers what a friendly community means to them. Dementia can be very hard to live with and I hope this toolkit goes some way in improving the quality of life for both the person with dementia and their carer."

An estimated 670,000 people in England have dementia, with the numbers of those diagnosed expected to double over the next three decades.

The Innovations in Dementia toolkit includes ideas on how to raise awareness, a help-pack for customer facing staff to better assist individuals with memory loss, and recommendations for a 'Memory Aware' high-street scheme. The company are hoping more local councils take up the initiative.