As the number of people diagnosed with dementia continues to rise in Queensland, more and more of their loved ones have stepped in to become carers, but not always with enough support.
“Becoming a carer puts people under an incredible amount of stress,” says Dementia Specialist Support Officer, Nerida Pankhurst.
Which is why Nerida has come up with a plan to train 100 Blue Care staff as the new ‘Dementia Response Team’.
“It’s wonderful that people with dementia can be looked after at home, but we have to really step up and make sure the people caring for them are supported.”
In order to properly aid those in the community who are caring for someone living with dementia, the Dementia Response Team are training to do things like visit families at home to check up on their progress, answer questions or refer them to other services.
Thanks to the support and generosity of people like you, Nerida says that the funds will allow the education and training of approximately 80 new Dementia Response Specialists. She also states that the benefits of training staff in dementia care are already resulting in better visits and more meaningful engagement.
Sister carers Erana and Bwena who look after their mother living with Dementia refer to the moment they met Nerida as a ‘massive turning point’.
“We felt understood and validated…It was almost like therapy. We got to unload our feelings and ask her about things we were struggling to understand,” said Erana.
Bwena agreed saying, “Nerida was also able to explain some of mum’s behaviour, and not in medical jargon either. She described how things might be from Mum’s perspective and helped us remember that our mum still has these capabilities – things that dementia hasn’t taken away from her… We left that meeting with Nerida thinking ‘we really can do this’.”
