Tag Archives: dementia
Worcestershire leads drive to defuse dementia time bomb
NHS figures show Herefordshire and Worcestershire have some of the highest dementia cases in the UK
The good news is that most of us are living longer.
The not-so-good news is the longer we live, the further we seem to be from meeting the challenges of caring for an ageing population. First came the pensions crisis, and now it’s the dementia time bomb; the long-term residential and nursing care of elderly dementia patients and how we are to pay for it.
The caring services are clearly at risk of becoming victims of their own success. Having extended the length of average life-spans, they now have to meet the growing demands on their resources and expertise.
NHS projections make disturbing reading. Last year, the number of dementia patients, (diagnosed and estimated undiagnosed) in the West Midlands stood at 70,739. By 2021 this number is forecast to reach 90,038.
Memory quilts cover Hampden pitch to showcase lives of people with dementia
The playing surface at Hampden was covered with thousands of memory quilts
Thousands of quilts stitched with the memories of people with dementia have been spread out to cover the pitch of the national stadium at Hampden.
The event is linked to the Alzheimer Scotland Scottish Football Memories Project, which uses football to stimulate memories of the past.
Some of the quilts on show featured stars including Sir Alex Ferguson, Gordon Strachan and Craig Brown.
Former Scotland manager Brown was at Hampden to show his support.
Ann Hill, resident quilter at NHS Dumfries and Galloway, has been a driving force behind the event.
Work to create the quilts sees people with dementia talk about family, friends, places and events from their past and these are stitched into a quilt which is then presented to the person.
The memories of football teams and games from the past have also been used in a project run by Glasgow Caledonian University.
Ms Hill said: “We have been working on this project for around four years and almost 3,000 quilters from right across the world have rallied to the cause superbly.
Carers warned of blind spot for dementia sufferers
Carers warned of blind spot for dementia victims
PEOPLE with dementia may also suffer sight loss that goes undetected because they are unable to communicate that something is wrong, campaigners have warned.
Alzheimer Scotland and the Royal National Institute for Blind People Scotland said carers and health workers may attribute any problems to the mental condition of dementia patients rather than putting it down to sight loss.
The charities are launching a new booklet – Dementia and Sight Loss – to try to tackle the problem.
The new advice booklet explains how to detect the first signs that something may be wrong with a patient’s sight.
