Richmond Villages launches a long-term care solution for people with dementia and their carers in line with the National Dementia Strategy

Date: 3 February 2009

Richmond Villages launches a long-term care solution for people with dementia and their carers in line with the National Dementia Strategy

Launched today by the Department of Health (DH), the National Dementia Strategy is the Government’s 5-year plan for improving health and social care services in England for everyone with dementia and their carers.

"In an ageing society, caring for people with dementia is one of the most important challenges we face. I know that for many people, diagnosis can be difficult, care can be patchy and without adequate support, families can be under huge stress,” commented Health Secretary Alan Johnson.

In response to the Strategy’s call to improve the quality of care for people with dementia, Richmond Villages is launching a three-pronged approach and long-term solution to the lack of care options faced by many people. It now offers:

Full-time dementia nursing care
Supported living for individuals or couples where one partner has dementia
Free training for carers

UK retirement village pioneer, Richmond Villages, provides an active community in safe and supported surroundings with access to assistance if and when needed.

Full-time nursing care
Richmond Villages is now making full-time nursing care available for those with dementia. This will allow those with more complex needs and requirements to benefit from a therapeutic environment, dedicated trained staff and the presence of Registered Nurses if required. These facilities are now available in the nursing home facilities in Richmond Northampton and will be in its Letcombe Regis Village in South Oxfordshire which is due to open later this year.

Supported living
Supported living is already available in the Horizon Suites in Richmond’s Northampton Village for those with dementia. These suites support the Strategy’s plan to allow people with dementia to remain independent for as long as possible. The suites are suitable for either a single person or couples where one partner has dementia. Living in a Horizon Suite gives people with dementia all the help and support they need, whilst maintaining their independence.

“We are now able to offer care to people from the early through to the more acute stages of dementia. Their partners can also be with them which avoids the separation that some couples face where one partner has dementia and the other does not,” says Bridget Penney, Dementia Nurse Trainer and Village Manager, Richmond Northampton.

Free training for carers
The National Dementia Strategy also highlights the difficulties and lack of support faced by volunteer carers on a day-to-day basis. Informal care – unpaid care provided by family members and friends is the mainstay of dementia care in the UK. Evidence shows that poor health is particularly associated with those supporting older people with cognitive impairment. Particular groups affected are partners who are acting as carers.

Many people whose partner or parent is in the early stages of dementia prefer to care for them in their home environment. Richmond Villages recognises that many volunteer carers find themselves isolated and not knowing how to cope with the changing situations they face on a daily basis. To alleviate this problem, a new free training scheme for volunteer carers of people with a dementia has been launched at Richmond Northampton. Lead by trained dementia nurses, it will provide information and skills in caring for a person with dementia within the community and offers volunteer carers a better understanding of the person and how to connect and respond to feelings. In addition, a support group for these carers will be set up to overcome some of the loneliness that a full-time carer may experience.

To allow the carer free time to attend training sessions, Richmond Northampton will also offer free day care during the session. Each session will last for 2-3 hours over a four week period.

Recognising the growing number of people in the UK with dementia – by 2020 it is estimated that there will be over one million people – Richmond Villages is raising the bar in dementia care.

Note to editors

Richmond Villages designs, builds and operates luxury retirement villages, and is notable for providing 24-hour care on site at every location. It has villages at Coventry, Warwickshire; Nantwich, Cheshire; Northampton; and Painswick, Gloucestershire. The new village with dementia facilities at Letcombe Regis, Oxfordshire, will be opening later this year. www.richmond-villages.com

The National Dementia Strategy can be found at www.dh.gov.uk/dementia

Dementia Facts and Figures
From the National Dementia Strategy (DH Feb 2009) and Dementia UK: The Full Report (A report to the Alzheimer’s Society on the prevalence and economic cost of dementia in the UK produced by King’s College London and The London School of Economics, 2007).

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia.
It is estimated that there are 700,000 people in the UK with dementia. By 2020, that figure is set to rise to 1 million.
Dementia affects 1 in 20 people over the age of 65 and 1 in 5 over the age of 80.
Of the 424,378 people with late onset dementia, 63.5% live in private households (the community) whereas 36.5% live in care homes.
Dementia costs the UK economy £17 billion a year.
Unpaid carers provide significant amounts of support to people with dementia, saving the economy £5.2 billion per year.

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Issued by:                                           Paula Cole/Tracey Bretherton
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