A Glasgow care home has given invaluable training to parishioners and Sisters of a local church to help raise further awareness of dementia.
Bupa’s Craigbank Care Home ran a training session at its dementia cafe that was attended by the Sisters of the Church of St Teresa of Lisieux, the local community and relatives of the home’s residents.
The ‘Promoting Excellence in Dementia Care’ training programme was run by Craigbank Home manager Pauline Hunter. It provides an insight into recognising the initial signs and symptoms of the disease as well as allowing those attending to be better equipped, more confident and offer a more personal approach in their interactions with anyone who has been diagnosed.
Sister Lyola, from the Church of St. Teresa of Lisieux, says: “On behalf of the Sisters and our parishioners, we really cannot thank the care home enough for running the course for us.
“We have some Sisters here who are learning to care for the sick and are caring for older Sisters in the convent who now have dementia, so it was hugely beneficial for them to have the opportunity to ask questions and gain confidence in this area.
“It has actually been quite touching to realise how many people were secretly worrying about family members, but didn’t know anything about dementia, and the presentation obviously gave them the information that they needed.
“Needless to say, we are very much looking forward to the next session with Pauline.”
Bupa has integrated training in dementia as a cornerstone of its staff development programmes. All employees undertake Bupa’s Essentials training before being encouraged to further develop their care skills through Bupa’s ‘Person First – Dementia Second’ strategy and ultimately become a dementia scholar.
Pauline Hunter, home manager, says: “Dementia is becoming more and more common in people over the age of 65 and we want to make sure they’re getting the right level of care depending on their needs
“We had a lovely afternoon with the Sisters, parishioners and relatives and it was quite emotional at times. The session was great and everyone was open and honest about any feelings and worries.
“Some people who attended have a family member with dementia and seemed to get comfort from the session, and some just came to find out more. It was fantastic to know just how useful it was for everyone who got involved and how much people are interested in the course in general.”
Having had such high levels of success from the first ‘Promoting Excellence in Dementia Care’ session, Craigbank care home is set to run further sessions in the near future.
