D – Other support mechanisms
D1: Local support
D2: Age UK
D3: Alzheimer’s Society
D4: Shropshire Carers Support Team.
D5: Recommended reading, television and audio resources
D6: Sitters
D7: PALZ
D8: Voting
D9: Clothing
D1: Local support
Coffee mornings – Methodist Hall, Bishop’s Castle, SY9 5DD, Friday morning 10.30 – 12.00.
Walking for Health Group – Monday 10.30 am outside Enterprise House
SpArC runs accessible cinema film sessions.
Walter’s Workshop – Enterprise House, call in for a coffee and chat or sit and watch, bring something to repair but it’s not essential; call 01588 638038 or email: info@bishopscastlecommunity.org.uk.
There is an 800 club info pack of local support information brought to each meeting with info that has been gleaned by everyone.
Diane Breeze, Community Wellbeing Outreach Officer from Shropshire Council’s ‘Health, Wellbeing & Prevention’ team, supports the local community in a wide-range of situations including suicide, alcoholism, domestic abuse and dementia-related support. Diane works part-time (Monday, Tuesday and Friday) She can be contacted on Tel: 01743 254235 and email: diane.breeze@shropshire.gov.uk.
D2: Age UK
There is lots of information and leaflets available on the Age UK website. Some are also available in the Bishop’s Castle library.
Silverline 24hr telephone service 0800 470 8090 is run by Age UK. It’s a free, confidential telephone service just for older people, providing friendship and support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The Age UK Dementia Support Group is held at the Bishop’s Castle Community Hospital on the fourth Monday of each month. These sessions are for the Carer and the person living with dementia. For more information, Email: enquiries@ageukstw.org.uk, tel: 01743 233123. In addition, AgeUK offer:
· An information and advice service
· Can look at allowances if the carer is of pensionable age or if they are not, then the Citizens Advice Bureau can advise on allowances.
· A befriending service (mainly for the Carer)
The Age UK Digital Inclusion Team Shrewsbury are available to help.
D3: Alzheimer’s Society
The Alzheimer’s Society website is a useful tool to take a look at. There’s a website shop with a wide variety of useful items. It’s also where you can find the ‘This is me’ form.
Dementia Support Forum is a helpful online community where anyone who is affected by dementia can receive valuable support. It's free, open day or night, and can be accessed online.
D4: Shropshire Carers Support Team
The team is operated by Shropshire Council and supports unpaid carers and family carers. There is a helpline for information, signposting and emotional support, open from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm: 01743 341995. Michele Lee from the team can be contacted via michele.lee.carers@shropshire.gov.uk
The support team is part of a national online support network and organises peer support groups, coaching and home visits but prefer to give support via phone. If appropriate the team will refer a Carer for an assessment or Carer’s emergency plan.
The team is keen to encourage carers to register with the Shropshire Carers Support Team, in order to identify the most useful type of support and the scale of support required. You do so by completing the Carers Register form. Anyone on the register gets a ‘check in’ call every six months. It is not a time-limited service. You can self-refer to the service and the hospital system can sometime help with a referral. June each year is Carers Activity Week organised by the Shropshire Carers Support Team. For Carers who are unable to access the internet please contact the Shropshire Carers Support Team on 01743 341995 and they’ll complete the form on your behalf while talking with you on the phone.
D5: Recommended reading, television and audio resources
Books available to take out from the Bishop’s Castle library:
Photo books and memory bags are available to prompt conversations with the person with dementia.
· Be with: Letters to a Carer by Mike Barnes
· Telling Tales about Dementia: Experiences of Caring Edited by Lucy Whitman
· Dementia by June Andrews. Practical advice for families, professionals and people living with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease
· Dementia Care: A care worker handbook by Belinda Goode and Gayle Booth
· Will I still be me? by Christine Bryden
· Dancing with Dementia: My story of living positively with dementia by Christine Bryden
· What I wish people knew about dementia by Wendy Mitchell. Her YouTube videos are also worth watching.
· There are free leaflets from Age UK and Alzheimer’s Society available at the back of the library
Other reading recommendations:
· Confidence to Care by Molly Carpenter. A practical resource and self-help tool for family and carers. Recommended by Alzheimer’s Society
· The Thirty-Six Hour Day by Nancy Mace and Peter Rabins. A guide for families and carers
· Alzheimer’s Society magazine “Dementia Together” (six a year). Free or via voluntary donation - subscribe through the Alzheimer’s Society’s website.
It can become difficult for someone living with dementia to hold a story in mind long enough to read or listen to a regular fiction or factual book. For those who have enjoyed reading previously, short stories or magazines may be more accessible.
Television recommendations:
Those who enjoy television might begin to find it difficult to hold a story arc in mind through a long tv series. Programmes that have storylines which are completed in each episode may be more enjoyable.
Animations such as Gromit films, Fantastic Mr Fox
BBC iPlayer:
· BBC Music Memories, which includes Memory Radio that contains archive and music-based radio programme featuring different decades of music plus printable activity sheets to accompany them
· Nature programme might also be of interest if following a story becomes more difficult.
D6: Sitters
Members of the 800 Club have different arrangements to organise breaks for the carer: some are paying a friend £12 per hour to meet the person with dementia for coffee, go for a walk, etc; another carer pays a sitter £15 per hour to have tea, go for a walk, do some chores together.
Professional carers (that includes personal care) are about £30 through an agency, or £20 privately.
D7: PALZ
The purpose of the PALZ group in Shrewsbury is to provide people who have previously held challenging and demanding jobs, who are now living with dementia, with a social environment that mirrors their previous working environment of peer support and mental challenge. The meetings take place every two months and a wide range of subjects are presented on and discussed. Their aim is to increase self-respect and confidence, as well as providing mental stimulation. Here’s a short video about the purpose of the group.
D8: Voting
There’s no need to have mental capacity in order to vote.
You may wish to be the person who carries out their proxy vote at the Polling Station or it may be easier for you to arrange a postal vote, which needs to be done a few weeks in advance of any election. Instructions for both will be on their voting form. Please note: the proxy cannot be the attorney.
D9: Clothing
A company called the Ablelabel was recommended to help with finding easy suitable clothing www.theablelabel.com.