November 9, 2012

expert reaction to the ‘dementia friends’ initiative

The Government announced plans to train one million ‘Dementia Friends’ by 2015 to help spot signs of the illness.

David Reid, from the University of Sheffield’s School of Nursing and Midwifery said:

“The Dementia Friends initiative, announced today, is a further bold and positive step by the Department of Health, with the Alzheimer’s Society, to improve the likelihood of living well with dementia. While the target to have in place a million trained Dementia Friend volunteers by 2015 is ambitious, there are likely to be many members of the public who take up the challenge to offer a helping hand to those affected who require support in their local communities.

“However, people with dementia are as culturally diverse as any group in society. The same cultural barriers that currently prevent people with memory problems from certain minority ethnic groups coming forwards for assessment may well limit the cultural diversity of Dementia Friends. Further collaborative work is required with members of minority ethnic communities around the country to ensure the Dementia Friends initiative encourages ‘dementia friendly’ communities for all.”