A message from David Latcham, Dementia Companion – Oswestry.
David says “Here’s what we are continuing to do for Alzheimer’s Society”:
Dementia Support service – Our support workers are still actively engaging with everyone we support, adapting our work to phone support rather than face to face support. We are doing regular welfare calls, providing opportunity to discuss situations that occur and strategies to best manage dementia during coronavirus, and offering people who are isolated the opportunity to access our weekly companion call (befriending) service that has been set up in response to coronavirus. Anyone who has a dementia diagnosis or supports someone with dementia can access this support. A referral form can be requested and used to refer people to shropshire@alzheimers.org.uk
Groups – We are remaining in contact with those who were part of our groups but have had to stop them meeting. We are looking at developing virtual options for running groups like Singing for the Brain. When there is news on this, we can inform you about it. In the meantime anyone wanting to access Singing for the brain activities can do so at this YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH48cq8uSN83qSzSX9wWpvA/videos
Phone and internet support – There is additional support available through our Dementia Connect Supportline for anyone with any questions about dementia. Call 0333 150 3456 and this is available evenings and weekends as well as during the week. It also connects to the local support we offer people in Shropshire.
Our website has a massive amount of information from factsheets to our Dementia Talking Point online forum which is great for people affected by dementia to read and post questions, and has a specific section on Coronavirus – https://forum.alzheimers.org.uk/forums/coronavirus-covid-19.83/