Ashford Place, together with Irish in Britain, Innisfree Housing and Brent Adult Social Care have developed an initiative to make Brent a friendly place for people with Dementia.
The Community Action on Dementia in Brent initiative (CAD in Brent) was a movement made possible after Irish in Britain (IiB) approached Ashford Place with the Cuimhne Project, which empowers people to think and work innovatively with people experiencing memory loss.
Concord Cafe is a comfortable dementia–friendly neighborhood café in Brent that gives people an opportunity to meet up regularly.
Hazel, a resident living with dementia, says the initiative has had a positive impact. She said:
“The depression being associated with dementia was what brought me down. Now being involved in this project has brought me to life”
Carmel is another local resident who attends the service almost every day and is happy with her new routine.
She said: “I like having something to do every day as it gives me a bit of structure as I don’t always remember what I have planned to do.
Irish in Britain encouraged the organisation to make the borough dementia–friendly in response to the rising levels of dementia in the Irish community. The culturally–sensitive initiative enables those affected to continue to live independently in the community using a range of techniques.
Danny Maher Chair of CAD–Brent and CEO of Ashford Place said: “Thanks to Cuimhne CAD–Brent is now facilitating a number of local initiatives where residents are developing client–led services that focus on people living with dementia to maintain good health and wellbeing and continue contributing their skills and talents to the local community. Without IiB’s insightful advice and support Irish people in Brent who are living with dementia, and their carers/families would continue to experience poor quality services.”
See more information on the Cuimhne Project and becoming a Cuimhne Champion in an area you think could benefit.