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A new method of assisting people living with dementia is currently being trialled in Warkworth and, if successful, could serve as a model for implementation elsewhere in the region.
Dementia Auckland socialisation team leader Rhonda Preston-Jones says traditionally Dementia Auckland has focused on assisting people living with dementia (PLWD) and their carers separately and each group has met at different times.
But recent research and experience in the United Kingdom, Poland, Italy and Japan has suggested that both groups meeting and participating in sessions together can be more effective.
The concept is called The Meeting Centre and was pioneered in the Netherlands about 20 years ago.
In the combined sessions, PLWD form friendships not only with each other but also with carers other than the person who normally looks after them.
Couples, comprising a carer and a PLWD, meet other couples in the same boat and form a social bond.
“They will then often go out for a coffee together or go to the movies together,” Rhonda says.
Such bonds are helpful because evidence shows that once a person is diagnosed with dementia and the disease progresses, they and their spouses increasingly become socially isolated.
“People living with dementia can get very isolated, but it does not mean that their need for belonging or having friendships and conversations is diminished,” Rhonda says.
A spin-off benefit is that having both groups meeting together makes the process more efficient and more can be done. Typically, carer support groups meet once a month. But at The Meeting Centre they get to meet every week. Moreover, before the trial started Dementia Auckland had no group in Warkworth for PLWD.
Both carers and PLWD participate in the same activities at The Meeting Centre though carers will be expected to do them at a more advanced level.
Rhonda says PLWD often retain long-term memory better than short-term memory so the most successful activities tend to be ones PLWD learned earlier in life. In the Warkworth group, a lot of men are former builders and have expressed an interest in doing woodwork. Other activities include Rummikub, dominos and Bob’s game – a variant of pool.
The Meeting Centre meets every Friday at Totara Park Retirement Village from 10am to noon.
A PLWD wishing to attend needs to have been diagnosed with dementia and be registered with Dementia Auckland.
Rhonda says Dementia Auckland is also on the lookout for volunteers to help out, particularly those who have been an ex-carer themselves or been involved in running groups for older adults. The Warkworth trial started in February and runs until the end of June. Dementia Auckland will then evaluate it. If deemed successful, it will likely be introduced in Pukekohe, Orewa and throughout Auckland.
Rhonda says feedback so far has been positive and many Dementia Auckland staff are clamouring for the concept to be introduced into their area.
Info: dementiaauckland.org.nz
