Wexford Dementia Alliance Publishes New Information Leaflet on Local Dementia Services
Date of issue: September 2021
The Wexford Dementia Alliance has published a new information leaflet outlining the wide range of services to support people with dementia and their loved ones across the county.
The leaflet outlines a range of key contacts that can provide confidential advice and services for people who have themselves, or who know someone who has, recently been diagnosed with dementia. It also aims to help people find answers to questions they may have around memory loss, cognitive changes or dementia.
The leaflet is being distributed to communities throughout the county, including to GP surgeries, and various health services among them Wexford General Hospital, Enniscorthy Health Centre and New Ross Healthy Living Centre.
The Wexford Dementia Alliance is a collaboration of health and social care professionals and various organisations involved in the support of people with dementia. These include the HSE, Healthy Ireland, the Alzheimer’s Society of Ireland, Wexford Family Carers Ireland and Wexford County Council.
This initiative is one of a number of actions being undertaken by the Alliance to ensure people with dementia remain active citizens in the community. Other activities have included training for town planners on inclusive design, and dementia awareness training for businesses and the wider community in Bunclody. A walkability audit is also planned for Enniscorthy in due course.
There are many forms of dementia, with the most common being Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, mixed Alzheimer’s Disease/vascular dementia, frontotemporal dementia and Lewy body disease. There are an estimated 2,163 people living with dementia in Wexford and each year more than 11,000 people develop the disease across the country – that’s approximately 30 people every day.
Local Services In addition to the support provided by local GPs, among the services and relevant contact information highlighted in the leaflet are:
- Public Health Nurses & Community Registered Nurses: based in Health Centres and Primary Care Centres around Wexford, this service provides nursing assessment, home support, health promotion, and advice to people with dementia, their families and carers, as well as making referrals to appropriate services
- Local Dementia Adviser: this person can help identify the needs of the person with dementia, provide information on the disease, how to cope with changes, plan for the future, and can also signpost to other services and supports in the area
- Wexford Memory Clinic: offers an assessment, diagnostic and treatment service for memory disorders, including support following a diagnosis by Advanced Nurse Practitioners
- New Ross Memory Technology Resource Room: where people can speak to an expert occupational therapist for advice on assistive equipment that can help promote independence, safety and quality of life for the person with dementia – from pendant alarms to medication reminders to GPS devices, and much more
- HSE Safeguarding & Protection Team: offers support and guidance for those concerned about abuse or exploitation of a person with dementia
- Alzheimer Society of Ireland National Helpline: a confidential service which provides accurate, up-to-date, accessible and relevant information and emotional support to callers – Freefone 1800 341 341 (Monday to Friday 10am to 5pm, Saturday 10am to 4pm)
- Local Home Care Co-ordinator: this person offers information on local home care services
- Wexford Family Carers Ireland: helps to promote the health, well-being and quality of life of family carers and those they care for
- Wexford Citizens’ Information: provides information on everything from carer’s allowances to respite grants
Olga Cleary, HSE Business Manager and Research Lead for Health & Wellbeing, is the chair of the Wexford Dementia Alliance. She comments: “We are delighted to provide this new information resource to the people of Wexford, which we hope will provide an at-a-glance overview of the wide range of dementia supports and services available in the county. If you are worried about dementia, whether for yourself or someone you care about, you are not alone. I would encourage you to reach out and talk to your GP or Public Health Nurse in the first instance. Following this, amongst the many services available locally, you may wish to consider what the New Ross Memory Technology Resource Room can offer, or speak to the local Home Care Co-ordinator for information on home care services. Of course, it is important to remember that people with dementia can still live well with support in their communities. In this regard, we also have a number of social outlets that people can access, including the Mindful Memories Choir which meets virtually every Wednesday. It’s important that people with dementia and their carers continue to have some fun too.”
The information leaflet has been endorsed by the Dementia: Understand Together campaign, led by the HSE in partnership with The Alzheimer Society of Ireland, Age Friendly Ireland, Age and Opportunity, and the Dementia Services Information and Development Centre. The campaign aims to help create communities that actively embrace and include those living with dementia and their families. For more information on dementia, visit www.understandtogether.ie.
ENDS
Issued by: Don Delaney, d2 communications, tel. 01 910 8987 / 087 793 3249 or email don@d2communications.ieAbout the HSE’s Dementia: Understand Together campaign
The Dementia: Understand Together campaign is a public support, awareness and information campaign that aims to inspire people from all sections of society to stand together with the 500,000 Irish people whose families have been affected by dementia. Led by the HSE in partnership with The Alzheimer Society of Ireland, Age Friendly Ireland, Age and Opportunity, and the Dementia Services Information and Development Centre, it is one of six key priorities of the Irish National Dementia Strategy. Dementia: Understand Together is now supported by over 40 partner organisations across Ireland, including in the retail, transport, banking, health, voluntary and community sectors. These organisations, together with almost 400 community champions from all over Ireland, are leading the way in creating communities that actively embrace and include those living with dementia and their families.