Tag Archives: carers
Pilot scheme designed to improve hospital experience of dementia patients and their carers
Foundation aims to improve hospital experience of dementia patients with ‘Buddie’ scheme
Date of article: 25-Apr-13
Article By: Laura McCardle, News Editor
An initiative designed to improve the hospital experience of dementia patients, their families and carers is to be piloted in an Essex hospital.
The Mickey Payne Memorial Foundation and South Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (SEPT) hope to implement the ‘Dementia Buddie Scheme’ by the start of June.
The project will see volunteers befriend people with dementia during hospital stays when their family, friends or carers are not available. Caroline Dearson, founder of the Mickey Payne Memorial Foundation, came up with the idea when she was sat in hospital with her father who had vascular dementia.
Eastenders bad boy runs in Marathon to raise awareness of dementia
Eastenders actor raises awareness of dementia by completing the London Marathon
Date of article: 24-Apr-13
Article By: Laura McCardle, News Editor
Eastenders bad boy Aykut Hilmi raised awareness of dementia when he ran the Virgin London Marathon in aid of the Alzheimer’s Society on Sunday.
It was the fifth marathon for the actor, who has also appeared in films Mamma Mia, The Bourne Ultimatum and Nine.
Mr Hilmi completed the 26.2-mile challenge to support his father, Ali, who was diagnosed with dementia in 2005.
His training took a blow when a back problem returned but he still managed to complete the race and crossed the finish line after four hours and forty minutes.
After the marathon, Mr Hilmi said: “I wasn’t able to train as planned so the race was a challenge. The only thing that kept me going was remembering I was doing it for my dad – because of his dementia my dad doesn’t even recognise me when he is watching me on TV or in a film.
“Running for my family and for the Alzheimer’s Society, who provide such great support to people affected by the condition, spurred me on to the finish line.”
Liz Monks, director of fundraising at the charity, said: “We’re so grateful to Aykut for taking on the challenge of the London Marathon in support of the Alzheimer’s Society.
You have to raise your voice to get mental health issues on the agenda
It’s time to talk about mental health
Angela McNab, chief executive of one of England’s larger mental health trusts, explains how listening to patients has led to improvements
In government, as in society, attitudes tend to change gradually, so health minister Norman Lamb’s commitment to “prioritising mental health like never before, making sure that it sits on par with physical health” has come as a welcome step change to mental health professionals.
Although one in four people in the UK will have mental health problems at some point in their lives, mental health services suffer institutional disadvantage compared to physical health services; press coverage of mental health is scant; and jokes or insulting language about mental illness are common.
When the previous government introduced major policies on payment by results, waiting times and patient choice, it excluded mental health and, despite considerable investment in the NHS overall, in the early 1990s spending on mental health declined.
