Dementia Without Walls project launched

10:11am Saturday 9th July 2011

A PROJECT to improve York for residents with dementia and their families has been launched during Dementia Awareness Week.

The year-long project, Dementia Without Walls, will work with people with dementia and their relatives to challenge people to think about how the city can become more ‘dementia-friendly’. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF)-funded project will examine health and social care services as well as how housing and everyday amenities such as shopping, leisure and transport can adapt to meet the needs of people with dementia.

John Kennedy, director of care services at JRF, said it provided a real opportunity for services to work together “to define the characteristics of a dementia-friendly place – something many of us may need in the future”.

“We are looking forward to working with others to make this a reality – including, in particular, the Retreat, which has very much helped us to shape this project.”

John Bettridge, chair of the York Mental Health Partnership and Modernisation Board and the York Working Group on Dementia, welcomed the study.

“I am delighted the voices of people with dementia themselves, and those of their families and carers, will be heard.”

Dementia Awareness Week is organised by the Alzheimer’s Society and has this year worked to encourage people to be a friend to someone with dementia.

The project team would like to hear from people affected by dementia in York.

Those who would like to contribute their ideas and experiences should contact Janet Crampton on 07540 503030 or janetcrampton@aesopconsortium.co.uk or Janet Dean on 07789 067131 or janetdean@aesopconsortium.co.uk

http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/9131426.Dementia_Without_Walls_project_launched/?ref=rss