Brent residents living with dementia call for support to help them continue as independent and heathy people for as long as possible
The ‘You Said We Did’ event on the 29th November at the Chalkhill Community Centre heard from people living with dementia and a carer about the realities of living with the dementia and of caring for someone living with the condition. We also heard from a representative of the Dementia Voices Brent group who highlighted elements of the Action Plan that they feel should be a priority in the dementia strategy, in particular the need for immediate support post diagnosis to both help the person and family better understand the condition but also to help them develop a plan of action that enables the person to remain independent and heathy for as long as possible. We also heard from Laura Ashby from Wembley Park Project/Quintain about how the company fully supports the vision of a Dementia Friendly Brent 2020 and how they will encourage other local companies to join our work. This laid the context for the remainder of the session where we together reviewed the dementia action plan and discussed some of the individual elements. Attendees were also treated to a short session of Chair Yoga which ensured our energy levels were up to the max as we planned the future dementia strategy.
This work does feel like a well joined up partnership of community (residents living with dementia, and carers, voluntary and Faith sectors) Brent Council, Brent CCG and Councillors (Thanks to Cllr: Harbi Farah – Lead Member for Adult Social Care – for joining us at this very important event).
The next steps now will be to turn our conversations into a dementia strategy and re-connect with you again earlier in 2019 to complete this important work and then begin operationalising it for the benefit of people living with dementia, carers and the wider community.
