Category Archives: Norfolk

Health bosses close to launching new system for mental health helpline

An extra staff member will be added to take additional calls to the Mind mental health helpline, as health bosses hammer out the final details for a new service.

The helpline, which faced closure earlier this year due to a lack of funds, is being merged with the Wellbeing helpline as part of the region’s mental health trust’s Wellbeing Service after chiefs agreed to invest an uncon-firmed amount of money towards the service.

As part of the scheme the Wellbeing helpline, available to call-ers with less acute conditions than those who ring Mind’s helpline, will have its opening hours extended.

Both helplines are to operate under the same number, with staff from either helpline able to answer both sets of callers.

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We need to talk about dementia – Dementia Awareness Week launches today

The numbers tell the story: almost two in every 100 people between 65 and 69 have dementia. Among those just 20 years older – 85 to 89 – that figure is one in five.

In Norfolk alone, up to 17,000 are affected. Over the next decade, that number is expected to double. It is a condition it is hard to escape.

Throughout Dementia Awareness Week, the EDP and Norwich Evening News will be highlighting ground-breaking research into the condition, focusing on how people can reduce their risk of developing it, and how our region can support those living with it.

Willie Cruickshank, director of the Norfolk and Suffolk Dementia Alliance, said the issue was one which should be a personal responsibility for every one of us.

“There is a reticence to talk about dementia but we need to start having these discussions,” he said.

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Parkinson’s Awareness Week – 18- 24th April 2016

Advice and Support for Carers of people with Parkinson’s 

Norfolk Carers, the lead agency for advice and support for unpaid carers in Norfolk is, this week, teaming up with Parkinson’s UK to highlight the support  available for carers of people with Parkinson’s, when a family member is diagnosed with the condition.

Carol Bush, 69, from Shipdham, cares for her husband, Gerald, 72,.  She says it was important to find out about support groups in her area:

“When Gerald was first diagnosed it was a shock and we didn’t know anything about Parkinson’s.  We immediately got information from Parkinson’s UK and then went on to find out about support groups in our area.  It’s very important to get involved and try to mix with other people who are caring for someone with the condition.”