Â鶹´«Ã½ Dementia Action Alliance (PDAA), Â鶹´«Ã½ City Council, Â鶹´«Ã½ University and sixty organisations and businesses have been working together for the past five years, to make the city more dementia friendly.
Initiatives include Dementia friendly City Bus, Â鶹´«Ã½ University, Stoke Damerel Community College, City College, Drake Circus, BBC Radio Devon, Derriford Hospital, Â鶹´«Ã½ City Council, Veterans café, Memory services, Memory Matters, Police and Fire services, Singing for the Brain groups, Alzheimer’s Society, Age UK, plus car parking spaces, dementia awareness sessions for local organisations and businesses, and a Dementia Friendly Toolkit for organisations in Â鶹´«Ã½ to support this programme.
The award follows a visit to Â鶹´«Ã½ from a group of journalists from Japan, who were keen to learn how Â鶹´«Ã½ is implementing a dementia friendly approach. The University and City College have been commissioned to support medical students and staff in China on issues around dementia care.
At present, there are over 3,000 people with a diagnosis of dementia, living in Â鶹´«Ã½ and this figure is predicted to rise to approximately 3,667 by 2020. The PDAA has an ever-growing membership of organisations from a wide variety of sectors across the city, such as: healthcare, emergency services, transport, education, defence, legal services, charities, faith groups etc. In the last few months, it has welcomed new members from the retail, finance, health and leisure sectors.
Alzheimer’s Society’s Chief Executive, Jeremy Hughes, said:
“Dementia is the biggest health and social care issue facing our society and there’s no question that it has a profound and devastating impact for many – but the actions of Dementia Friendly Â鶹´«Ã½ and others like them are helping to raise better awareness, break down stigma and make our communities more dementia friendly.
“What makes our winners so remarkable is the way they use their imagination, energy and enthusiasm to inspire others. Dementia Friendly Â鶹´«Ã½ have gone that extra mile to make a bigger difference in their community for people with dementia and they will inspire others to follow their example in all walks of life.â€
Ian Sherriff, chairman of the PDAA and Academic Partnership Lead for Dementia at Â鶹´«Ã½ University, said,
“Winning this award is a fantastic accolade and is in recognition for all the hard work, energy and passion that the people with Dementia and their carers PDAA membership, Â鶹´«Ã½ City Council and Â鶹´«Ã½ University have put in over the past 5 years. This work has also been recognised by teams of public sector workers and academics from Japan, China, Italy and latterly, Holland.â€Councillor Lynda Bowyer, Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care for Â鶹´«Ã½ City Council, said:
“As a council we are committed to working with our partners to help Â鶹´«Ã½ to become a more Dementia Friendly city. We are absolutely delighted that Â鶹´«Ã½ has won this award – this is recognition for every organisation in the city that has done their bit and agreed to become more Dementia Friendly.â€Dr Paul Hardy, GP and chair of NHS Northern, Eastern and Western Devon CCG western locality, said:
“NEW Devon CCG is fully committed to Â鶹´«Ã½ becoming a Dementia Friendly City and is delighted that the city’s hard work has been recognised on the national stage. It could not have been achieved unless everyone pulling together and playing a role and I am proud of our contribution in this team effort."If you would like to find out more about the Dementia Friendly work in Â鶹´«Ã½ and how your organisation can get involved, contact the Dementia Friendly City Co-ordinator, Claire Puckey, on +44 1752 398922 or email claire.puckey@plymouth.gov.uk
You can also sign up to be a Dementia Friend. The Alzheimer’s Society aims to create 4 million Dementia Friends by 2020. For more information visit .
For further information please contact: Chris Gomm, Corporate Communications Officer on +44 1752 307898 or email chris.gomm@plymouth.gov.uk