“I was delighted to be involved in co–chairing the conference. At once I was struck by the skills, energy and enthusiasm there was within the participants to make difference to the lives of people from BME communities experiencing dementia. The messages about the Irish community and its needs were most welcome in an all too often forgotten context and I particularly salute the Irish in Britain’s Cuimhne campaign which has done so much to raise awareness of the community at the highest levels both in Britain and Ireland. I have come away re–invigorated in finding innovative ways to help Irish people with Dementia find fulfilment in their lives.” – Ant Hanlon; Chief Executive,Leeds Irish Health & Homes
Our Responding to Dementia Conference that took place on Friday July 18 was a huge success. A diverse attendee list of over 80 participants included a wide variety of BME community groups who specialise in dementia friendly practices, health commissioners from across England, and a number of carers and those living with memory loss, all heard from David Truswell, an expert in the field; and Ian Sheriff, a member of the Prime Ministers Dementia Friendly Communities Challenge Group.
Dr Mary Tilki said that “our networking and discussions with participants revealed that despite the diversity across the groups, we were all taken by how similar our issues as BME communities are, how creatively we are addressing them and how little our voices are heard in policy making circles.”
Local MP for Perry Barr, Khalid Mahmood opened the conference with a warm welcome who spoke of the isolation often felt by those with memory loss from BME communities. This was picked up across the conference, and particularly by our Chair Dr Mary Tilki who spoke about Cultural Sensitivity, she began by suggesting that although her presentation was titled ‘The Irish Perspective’ the word ‘Irish’ could easily be replaced by ‘Caribbean’ or ‘Sikh’ or ‘Traveller’ as the same issues occur across all BME communities.
Outstanding workshops were delivered by several groups including the Black Health Initiative; the Dementia Friendly Gurudwaras; Leeds GATE Gypsy and Traveller Exchange; Chinese National Healthy Living Centre; Moyra Riseborough; YECCO and Irish in Britain. Event Sponsors delivered much needed clarity in the legal issues around dementia with their presentation of ‘Planning for Incapacity’.
‘I very much appreciated being invited to speak at the conference on this hugely important issue for all the UK’s minority ethnic communities and the conference achieved the ambitious scope of the organisers by bringing together so many perspectives on the issues.’ – David Trustwell
The interactive Dementia Friendly Gurudwaras workshop was led by the co–founders of this award winning project. It explored the current issues of Dementia within the Sikh Punjabi Community through the use of case histories. It then proceeded to demonstrate some of the innovative ways the Dementia Friendly Gurudwaras Project is using to address these. Besides others they include; tailored workshops, courses, lectures and physical and virtual information portals both in English and Punjabi. Finally the workshop highlighted some of the on–going challenges the community face in tackling the stigma of dementia.
“We thought the conference provided a fascinating insight into both dementia–specific needs and the wider needs of minority communities. It was inspiring to hear the passion of those who have a role to play in national policy. The conference itself was very well organised and in a convenient location which made our journey much easier.” – Rajinder– Dementia Friendly Gurudwaras
The Presentations and Resources can be downloaded below.
Keynote Speaker David Truswell’s Presentation
Keynote Speaker Ian Sheriff’s Presentation
Dr Mary Tilki – Cultural Sensitivity: The Irish Perspective
Plenary Session by Irwin Mitchell Solicitors ‘Planning for Incapacity’
CNHLC Dementia Awareness & Support Project
We have already received some excellent feedback but for those who attended and have not done so already, please fill in our Conference Evaluation Form – and then please return to Michael
You can find the Freedem Films videos which were shown at registration and at lunchtime by clicking the picture below.
