Carewatch to host web chat to celebrate launch of new dementia service

Family and people living with dementia in the West Midlands are being invited to participate in a live web chat with dementia professionals as they prepare to launch a new dementia service.

The chat will be held on the ‘Carewatch Midshrops and South West Staffs’ Facebook page at 10am on April 27 and marks the start of Good Care Week throughout Britain. Managing director of Carewatch Mid Shropshire and Staffordshire, Steve Harris, will lead the chat as well as dementia professional, Yvette Whitehouse and Careawatch UK care worker of the year, Rob Cartwright. Also attending the chat will be dementia lead for Carewatch, Kirsty Streather and dementia consultant John Wilberforce.

Mr Harris said: “Dementia has always been something we have wanted to offer more on. Many of our customers live with dementia and a lot of people do not know much about it.

“Yvette has worked with us for around 18 months but has now taken extra qualifications to begin the role of dementia specialist, meanwhile Rob is studying the assistive technology available – together they will help deliver the new guidance programme.

“We hope the web chat will help anyone nervous about asking questions to take that first step.”

Good Care Week will see the launch of a number of advice sessions for family and friends to help them understand dementia, and what support and activities are available for people living with dementia.

Carewatch has recently increased the number of free therapy sessions available for people living with dementia. Sessions will now be held monthly at care homes, coffee mornings and community groups throughout the Staffordshire and Shropshire area.

Judy Kelly, a HR manager from Wolverhampton, organises the sessions and hopes that they will now reach 250 people. She said: “We have been holding them for over a year, it started out just by doing it as and when we could as we thought it was a good idea. But we’ve made so many great contacts that they keep asking us back to hold more and more therapy sessions – we are now doing one a month.”

Miss Kelly works alongside the Carers Association for Southern Staffordshire (CASS) charity, The Old Friends Meeting in Blymhill, Staffordshire and The Good Neighbour Scheme, as well as Brunel Court in Wombourne to help organise sessions around their needs.

Activities held during sessions include ball therapy, remembrance games and quizzes using pictures of famous people as well as relaxation games.

Mr Harris added: “Judy has been a member of our team for two years and she has made a great difference to our HR department, but she has also shown just how caring she is for our customers.

“When she said she wanted to provide these sessions I simply told her to go for it and I am so pleased with the way they have taken off – this is part of our ongoing commitment to dementia care.”