A musical celebration of the life of Barbara Pointon MBE will be held in Cambridge on 25 September. Barbara became well known in the late 1990s when ITV showed the documentary Malcolm and Barbara: A Love Story, about how she cared for her husband who had dementia. She became a high profile campaigner on dementia…
Residential care homes have urged the government to protect them from massive rises in energy costs. The National Care Forum (NCF), which represents social care providers, said they were facing price rises of 400% for gas and electricity that were “totally unaffordable”. Vic Rayner, NCF CEO, added: “This is causing immense pressure for social care…
The National Day of Arts in Care Homes, an annual event organised by the National Activity Providers Association (NAPA), takes place on Saturday 24 September celebrating arts and creativity in care settings. Care providers and local arts organisations are expected to arrange events showcasing creative work to support health and wellbeing. Among initiatives on the…
Marc Wortmann, former CEO of Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI), died in August this year at the age of 63. Mr Wortmann was Executive Director of Alzheimer Nederland from 2000 until 2006, during which time he co-organised the Alzheimer Europe Conference in Maastricht, in 2002. He then became CEO of ADI from 2007-2017. He was a strong advocate…
In a long-delayed announcement, the government has met its pledge to double dementia research funding to £160 million a year by 2024. Fulfilling the “Dementia Moonshot” promise made in the 2019 election manifesto, PM Boris Johnson said that £95 million would also be ring-fenced for a dementia taskforce along the lines of the UK Vaccines…
Two police officers are being investigated after firing a Taser at a care home resident with dementia who later died. Police were called to the Sussex care home following reports that 93-year-old Donald Burgess, who was in a wheelchair, had threatened staff with a knife. The officers are understood to have used a baton, pepper…
Vibrant Communities hosts live, online social groups for care home residents, including virtual tours of museums, galleries and landmarks, and it has lined up a varied calendar of events for the coming weeks. Among the highlights are Movement from your chair (31 August), Film Shoot: South Pacific (1 Sept), Desert Island Discs (2 Sept), Art…
A series of guides have been published for people with dementia on using voice assistants like Amazon Alexa and Google Home Hub. Written by Narinder Kapur, visiting professor of neuropsychology at UCL, the guides – Alexa for Alzheimer’s and Google Assistant for Alzheimer’s – are available on Amazon for £9.95. Research findings suggest voice assistants…
Unprecedented pressures on adult social care are resulting in waiting lists that are growing by 600 people a day, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) said. According to ADASS, almost 300,000 people are now waiting for an assessment of their needs by social workers, up by 44% in five months. One in…
Housing and care provider Anchor announced Lucie Cerna and Daliah Ifeanyi as the winners of its Apprenticeship Awards. Lucie, who works at Anchor’s Beech Hall care home in Leeds, bagged Apprentice of the Year, while Dahlia from the Kerrie Court care home in Birmingham got the Rising Star award. They beat dozens of finalists to…