News & Events

A new national scheme is aiming to create a million-strong UK support network of volunteers, carers and helpers by 2015 to change the way the nation thinks, talks and acts about dementia.

Dementia Friends is an Alzheimer’s Society initiative which aims to make everyday life better for people with dementia by passing on the know-how to help people with dementia feel understood and included in their community. 

Being a Dementia Friend is about turning understanding into action and will work through things like asking volunteers to give a helping hand to someone struggling to get on the right bus through to encouraging someone else to become a Dementia Friend.

No action is too big or too small and the scheme plans to equip 'Friends' with an understanding of dementia explaining how they can help people with dementia in every community, every hospital ward, post office, place of worship and on every street across the country.

You can take the first step to becoming a 'Friend' by registering your interest through the Dementia Friends website and help start building a network of 'Friends' in your local area.
 
The organisers need people to volunteer and they'll then keep everyone up to date with all the exciting developments as the project builds across the country. 

Dementia is caused by diseases of the brain and symptoms include the gradual loss of memory, reasoning and communication skills.

However, people who have dementia are not alone and they and their carers can still have a good quality of life.

There are different types of dementia with the most common being Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia.

The following organisations provide advice and support for with dementia and their families and can be contacted using the following websites and telephone numbers:

• Age Cymru - Call 0800 169 6565
• Alzheimer’s Society - Call 029 2048 0593
• Carers Trust - Formerly Crossroads Care - Call 0845 450 0350
• Wales Dementia Helpine - Call 0808 808 2235 or text 'help' to 81066

If you have any questions about WaMH in PC's work with dementia in Wales please visit our Dementia section or contact us via email at lhills@rcgp.org.uk or on 029 2050 4516.

Download the National Dementia Vision for Wales document

In the new pilot schemes, GPs using iPad-compatible software will test people for normal or abnormal memory in 10 minutes. 

Pensioners will also be given memory tests every time they visit a doctor or nurse and 1million people - including bank and shop workers and schoolchildren - will be offered training under a Dementia Friends scheme so they can help those who need extra assistance.

For more about the two initiatives please read Doctors to Test All Pensioners for Dementia on The Telegraph website.

There are currently just over 42,700 people living with dementia in Wales, and it is important to note that the effect on the individual is different in each case. 

This is not just a problem affecting Wales - the most up-to-date statistics show that the numbers of people with dementia are rising across the UK and the world with an estimated 35 million people with dementia worldwide.

Much work has taken place in Wales recently to identify the areas that need to be addressed to improve the lives of those with and affected by dementia.

This has led to the creation of the National Dementia Vision for Wales which provides a long-term vision to ensure  Wales can best meet the challenge of an increasing number of people living with dementia across the country.

If you have any questions about WaMH in PC's work with dementia in Wales please visit our Dementia section or contact us via email at lhills@rcgp.org.uk or on 029 2050 4516.

Watch our videos about Part 1 of the Mental Health Measure

We added our new Part 1 - Downloadable Resource a fortnight ago to help GPs and their teams understand the first part of the Mental Health Measure which came into force in October.

The new web pages contain links to a variety of documents and videos which explain the various impacts of the new legislation with more than 800 visitors coming to our site since the section went live on 31 October.

Our site usually attracts around 100 visitors a week but the new information has helped bring in a lot more visitors proving that people are interested in finding our more about the Measure.

Our new series of videos have proved the most successfull with more more than 400 views between them over the past two weeks.

In fact, we'd urge you to spend a few minutes of your time watching each of the videos which you can access through the following link - Part 1 - Videos.

Part 1 of the Measure makes it a legal requirement for Local Health Board and Local Authorities to work together to expand and strengthen primary care mental health services for people of all ages.

If you're a mental health professional, then we'd urge you to take a few minutes to explore our new Part 1 - Downloadable Resource section which we have split up into the following 3 distinct sections:

• Guidance - A series of links to supporting documents and guidance for Part 1 of the Measure
• Legislation - A series of links to legislation and regulations behind Part 1 of the Measure
• Videos - A series of videos explaining Part 1 of the Measure

In the meantime, if you've got any questions about the Measure or the work WaMH in PC carries out across Wales please contact us via email at lhills@rcgp.org.uk or on 029 2050 4516.