Dementia Carers Count offers a range of free services that give family carers the opportunity to understand more about dementia and to connect with others in a similar situation. We offer practical advice on the reality and challenges of being a carer.

Our Community Development Coordinator for Education has put together the following list which details resources which may be useful in raising awareness of dementia with children.

How do you explain dementia to a six year old? The Ally Bally Bee Project is on a mission to make such difficult conversations a little easier with our personalised children’s book about dementia.

Imagine being able to explain “granny’s dementia” to your child with a book that features both child and grandparent as the main character. From names and appearances to certain behavioural traits (after all, dementia affects everyone differently) – we plan to allow for such customisation through an interactive website. Simply create the story online then click to have it delivered to your door!

The Together Project - Blog - The Together Project meets The Ally Bally Bee Project

Researchers in the UK have been working with Alzheimer’s Europe to develop a database of resources for people with dementia from different BAME communities. The website is now live and may be helpful for various community groups. A number of our own resources (such as our short films on our homepage) are also featured.  

This can be accessed at: https://www.alzheimer-europe.org/Ethics/Database-of-initiatives-for-intercultural-care-and-support

Provide support through a variety of groups and activities, including:

Activity groups

Memory cafés

Singing for the Brain ®

Sports and Social Club

There is also a Side by Side service that helps people with dementia to keep doing the things they love, or to try something new.  The service helps people to get out and about, doing an activity of their choice through the support of a volunteer. This can be anything from joining a local club, going to the football, going to a local café, or simply having a stroll in the park.

Contact: 0117 961 0693.

The service is open Monday to Frieday between 9.00am – 2.00pm. There is an answerphone for outside office hours.

Email address: bristol@alzheimers.org.uk.

Be dementia aware

In 2015, Bristol CCG started running a new campaign urging all people to become 'dementia aware'. Across the city posters, leaflets and advertising appeared to encourage people to recognise the signs of dementia - and act if they do.

To support the campaign the CCG has developed a range of materials and also a number of videos.  

For more information on the campaign, visit the Bristol CCG website or contact the Bristol CCG communications team on: 0117 900 2549.

Aardman animation worked with Bristol Ageing Better to make the following video.

Bristol Ageing Better works with local organisations to help older people across the city live fulfilling lives.
We want you to know that you are not alone and that there are things you can do to be less lonely.

You could participate in a clinical study or help shape the direction of services by taking part in research. You can get involved by:

• Attending discussion groups in your area – Regional or National research committees
• Developing patient and carer information leaflets
• Support a research project or advisory group as a member
• Become a champion for research
• Identify research that is important, relevant and beneficial to patients and carers
• Talk in groups with researchers to discuss their research proposal
• Write guidance for researchers on how to run patient and public involvement

Join Dementia Research is a national service which makes it easy for people to register their interest to take part in dementia research.

Contact: Alzheimer’s Research UK on 0300 111 5111

Contact: Alzheimer’s Society on 0300 222 1122

Join Dementia Research Website: https://www.joindementiaresearch.nihr.ac.uk/

Their objective is to enable Bristol to become THE Dementia Friendly City of the UK.

They do this by using two main tools, “Dementia Friends” and “The Purple Angel Campaign”, to increase Dementia Awareness across the city.

They visit anybody, including businesses, schools, youth and children’s organisations (e.g. Scouts, Guides, Cubs, Brownies, Beavers and Rainbows), youth clubs, social clubs, community clubs, activity clubs, community organisations, other voluntary organisations, care agencies, other charities, faith groups, political groups, basically anyone prepared to listen and take part!

Sessions generally are an hour long and are free.

They also campaign on issues relevant to people with Dementia and their carers e.g. closure of public toilets and closure of public libraries,

Contact: Tony Hall 0117 968 1002

Bristol Dementia Action Alliance Website

Have your voice heard and join the Dementia HIT Volunteer Panel

The Bristol Health Partners’ Dementia Health Integration Team (HIT) has set up a Volunteer Panel. You can join the panel if you would like to hear about patient & public involvement activities relevant to dementia.

Involvement activities might include:

• Taking part in a discussion group about a particular service
• Commenting on paperwork and forms to make them more user-friendly
• Providing ideas for future research or priorities for service improvement.

You don’t have to take part in any of the activities you are offered.

The panel is open to people with dementia, their carers and interested members of the public.

Further information can be found on their website here

email: dementiappi@bristolhealthpartners.org.uk  / Tel: 0117 4148238

Anyone can become a Dementia Friend. It's about having more understanding about dementia and the small things you can do to help. Being a Dementia Friend isn't about volunteering or fundraising (although you can do that if you'd like); it's about turning understanding into action. To become a Dementia Friend visit the website at: www.dementiafriends.org.uk.

Gives children, young people and adults across Bristol a powerful voice locally and nationally. Local Healthwatch works to help people get the best out of their local health and social care  services.

Healthwatch is all about local voices being able to influence the delivery and design of local health and social care services.

Contact: 0117 269 0400

Text ‘bris’ followed by your message to 07860 021 603.

Contact email: info@healthwatchbristol.co.uk.

IDEA is a free online resource aimed at improving the quality of life for people with dementia.

BIHR has launched a new suite of resources on mental health, mental capacity and human rights. The series of 8 toolkits aim to build the knowledge and confidence of mental health and mental capacity practitioners to use human rights to design and deliver rights-respecting services. Mental Health, Mental Capacity and Human Rights contains crucial information on what practitioners need to know about human rights and the law. This is supported by 7 issue specific resources for different areas of mental health and mental capacity practice:

•Dementia

•Learning Disability

•Mental Health Care for Children and Young People

•Mental Health Early Intervention

•Mental Health Accommodation Support

•Rehabilitation

•Social Care Intervention

The resources are a key outcome of BIHR's project Delivering Compassionate Care: Connecting Human Rights to the Frontline. Download your free copy by clicking here. If you'd like hard copies, please contact info@bihr.org.uk

Our Senior Dementia Practitioner Lisa Clevely has also written a blog in relation to human rights in dementia care.

We have now launched an innovative series of short films in six different languages giving information about dementia and relevant support services in the city. We commissioned the six short films - in Urdu, Punjabi, Cantonese, Somali, Polish and English-language - to address the stigma, misunderstanding and lack of accurate information currently available for the culturally diverse communities across the city.

There are an estimated 25,000 BME people with dementia in the UK. While the number of white, British people with dementia is expected to double by 2051, the numbers of people from BME communities is expected to increase sevenfold within the same timeframe.

Mrs Kwan, who is originally from China, has lived in Bristol with her husband for 45 years and raised their family here. She is now carer to her husband who has dementia. She explains: “Life changes significantly for someone with dementia, and for their carer and family too. It’s really important to get help. In our community, a lot of people don’t know what dementia is, we don’t even have a word for it. This means that lots of people with the disease run the risk of being forgotten.”

Within each of the films, medical experts, people affected by dementia and  members of the relevant communities explain what dementia is, outline how people can gain a diagnosis and access the free support available from the  Dementia Wellbeing Service.

This issue is echoed across many communities, as well as within white-British communities, and one which the films address head on.

Khadra Abdi, who cares for her mother with dementia and is active in the Somali community in Bristol says: “Many older people within our community have limited English language, and when they don’t understand what dementia is it can be very scary. These films explain about the disease and the help available in a simple, clear way, and most importantly in their native language, making it far easier for them to gain a genuine understanding of dementia, get a diagnosis from their GP and to get support from the Dementia Wellbeing Service”.

You can now view the films from our homepage or via our YouTube channel and hardcopies are available from 0117 904 5151

The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) improves the lives of people who use care services by sharing knowledge about what works.

We are a leading improvement support agency and an independent charity working with adults’, families’ and children's care and support services across the UK. We also work closely with related services such as health care and housing.

This document is aimed at people living with dementia and their carers to help them to know what good quality services should look like.

The expectations listed apply to all of the different types of health and social care services a person with dementia might need to use, including services provided at home, in the community and in hospitals.