Dementia has a major impact affecting nearly a million people in the UK, including around 3,100 in Wolverhampton. Dementia does not just have a devastating effect on the individual, but also their families and friends, with an estimated half a million people in England providing primary care for someone living with dementia.
Dementia Action Week, organised by the Alzheimer’s Society and supported by the Wolverhampton Dementia Action Alliance and the City of Wolverhampton Council, is an opportunity to raise awareness of the help and support available to people living with dementia, and their families and carers.
This year also marks the launch of the Wolverhampton Integrated Dementia Strategy which aims to improve the lives of people living with dementia and their families and carers in the city. In common with the strategy, this year’s Dementia Action Week focuses on the importance of increased understanding, reducing stigma and improving diagnosis rates.
A number of events are taking place during Dementia Action Week including a community awareness session organised by the African Caribbean Community Initiative at the Heritage Centre, Clifford Street, Wolverhampton on Tuesday (19 May) from 11am to 3pm – for details, call 01902 571230 or email carers@acci.org.uk.
The council’s Public Protection Team will be offering information and advice at a drop in session at Bilston Indoor Market on Thursday 21 May from 10am to 1pm.
Meanwhile, the University of Wolverhampton is launching ‘Involve D study’, a nationally supported project reviewing an approach to working collaboratively with people from South Asian, Black African and African Caribbean communities in Wolverhampton to understand what supports them to live well with dementia in the places they live. For more details, please email k.jutlla@wlv.ac.uk.
Jon Crockett, Chair of Wolverhampton Dementia Action Alliance, said: “Dementia Action Week is showing once again the range of organisations across the city who are working together to make a difference for those people living with dementia, their families and carers.
“I’m so pleased that so many across Wolverhampton are taking the opportunity to help people to understand more about dementia and what they can do help people living with dementia.
“It is estimated that 1 in 3 people born in the UK today will be diagnosed with dementia in their lifetime and it remains the commitment of everyone in the Dementia Action Alliance to make Wolverhampton a dementia friendly city.
“Dementia Action Week gives us the opportunity to showcase the many organisations who are working hard to make that ambition a reality.”
People who are worried about dementia can contact the Alzheimer’s Society for information and support either via the National Dementia Helpline on 0333 150 3456 or by visiting Alzheimer’s Society. For more information about the help and support available locally, please visit Dementia.
