Dementia expertise
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All No Place Like Home staff have specialist dementia training
Dementia can be caused by over 100 different brain diseases and can affect both young and older people. Around 95% of all cases of dementia are due to Alzheimer’s Disease, Vascular Dementia, Dementia with Lewy Bodies and Frontotemporal Dementia. Currently, over 25% of men and almost 40% of women aged 75-79 years live with dementia. The prevalence of the condition is even higher for 85+ year-olds with 40% of men and 55% of women affected*. Understanding dementia is critical to being able to look after and to communicate effectively with many of our clients.
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All No Place Like Home staff, including those who are primarily office-based, are trained to understand and support clients and families affected by dementia. Our company's specialist dementia trainer, Chris Elsley, of Forget Me Not Dementia Training, provides our staff with creative tools and techniques to help our clients live well with dementia from the early onset to the later stages of the condition.
Alison Carter with Validation Therapy Train the Trainers, Rosemary Hurtley and Julia Pitkin
The value of experiential learning
Alongside dementia courses delivered in a formal classroom environment, our staff are involved in a variety of experiential learning activities.
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The Virtual Dementia Tour (VDT), for example, is medically and scientifically proven to be the closest that we can give a person with a healthy brain an experience of what dementia might be like. By understanding dementia from the person's point of view we can change practice, reduce issues and improve their lives.
As No Place Like Home works exclusively with an older age group, our own 'Dementia Embodied' learning builds upon the VDT concept to simulate some of the challenges an elderly person with dementia might face.
Changing the way we learn about dementia
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No Place Like Home has been recognised for its innovative and experiential learning approaches.
Alison Carter is a trained Therapeutic Dementia Practitioner and iCARER™ Facilitator. The approach is based upon The Validation Method developed in the USA by Naomi Feil (1983, 2015) and delivered in the UK by Julia Pitkin of Dementia Sense in association with Rosemary Hurtley of 360 Forward Ltd.
Their Validating Me: skills for therapeutic interaction training develops qualities necessary for a therapeutic relationship with people experiencing dementia, using person-centred validation skills, enabling them to have the conversations that matter. This approach is an emotional model of care.
All No Place Like Home Personal Assistants receive iCARER™ training as part of their dementia care toolkit. iCARER™ is an acronym for a set of skilful therapeutic interactions. It is warmer, richer in feeling than that of everyday life. The purpose is to find a shared meaning between two people and understand the reality the person with dementia is experiencing. The iCARER™ approach equips our Personal Assistants to respond positively to the person’s emotional and psychological needs particularly in stressful situations.
Our Managing Director, Alison, is an active Dementia Friends' Champion, raising awareness locally about the condition.
No Place Like Home is a member of Kent's Dementia Action Alliance, founder member of Faversham (now Swale) Dementia Action Alliance, and Co-Chair of Canterbury & Ashford Dementia Action Alliance, which are working hard to improve awareness and understanding of dementia in our local area.
FREE Dementia Workshops for Family Carers
As part of our commitment to supporting people to live well with dementia, we are pleased to present our workshop specifically designed for family carers.
The workshop content has been developed in association with our accredited dementia trainer, Chris Elsley (pictured left), and is presented by No Place Like Home’s Managing Director, Alison Carter.
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During the workshop you will:
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Learn about some of the commonest causes of dementia
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Gain insight into what it might feel like to have dementia
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Enhance your communication skills to help a person live well with dementia on a day-to-day basis
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Share experiences/insights with other family carers
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For information about upcoming workshops please click here
*Source: Matthews, F.E et al (2016). A two decade dementia incidence comparison from the Cognitive Function and Ageing Studies I and II. Cognitive Function and Ageing Studies (CFAS) Collaboration.