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Wednesday 27 August 2014

Dementia Friendly Churches

While at Greenbelt, I attended a session run by Livability and the Alzheimer's Society about Dementia Friendly Churches and, as a result, am now officially a Dementia Friend.

The Dementia Friendly Churches Initiative offers a range of services / resources to support churches to become more accessible and inclusive for people with dementia and their carers.

Dementia Friendly Churches Initiative offers a number of services:
  • An audit to assess how dementia friendly your church currently is and develop an action plan.
  • Mentoring – on-going mentoring and advice for your church or organisation.
  • A one off ‘Dementia Friends’ training session for your church or organisation.
  • A four part series of training/workshops for your church/ organisation.
 

Dementia is a disease which impairs people’s ability to remember, think and make choices. Globally, Dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, is one of the biggest global public health challenges facing our generation. Today, over 35 million people worldwide currently live with the condition and this number is expected to double by 2030 and more than triple by 2050 to 115 million. In the UK alone, it currently affects 800,000 people and that number is expected to double in the next 30 years.

Tackling Dementia has been a key priority for the current Government; in 2012 Prime Minister, David Cameron launched the Dementia Challenge – an ambitious three year programme designed to make a real difference to people with dementia and their carers. One of the aims of the challenge, in partnership with the Alzheimer’s Society, is to recruit and train 1 million volunteers ‘Dementia friends’ to support people with dementia by 2015. Livability is working alongside the Alzheimer’s Society help achieve this outcome by equipping members of churches and Christian organisations to become dementia friends.

Livability is part of the Dementia Action Alliance, a national membership body comprising over 900 organisations committed to transforming the quality of life of people living with dementia in the UK and the millions of people who care for them. Livability is also a member of the Civil Society and Voluntary Agencies Sub-group for the Prime Minister’s Dementia Challenge Committee.

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Love - Old Man.

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