A unique tour bus is rolling into the Midlands based, award-winning care home, The Old Vicarage Care Home in Clay Cross to provide care workers and residents relatives with a virtual experience of what it is like to live with dementia, this Dementia Action Week (15-21 May 2023).
Family members of residents who are currently living with dementia at The Old Vicarage will be among the first to hop on board the specially equipped experience bus with Adept Care Home Dementia Manager, Karen Middleton leading the way.
Offering a range of sensory tools, the bus, which is operated by Training 2 Care, has been designed to provide an insightful, virtual experience to people who do not live with the condition, so they can better understand how dementia impacts on thought processes, behaviours, and feelings among those they care for.
It enables families and carers to develop greater empathy for the physical and mental challenges faced by people with dementia so that simple changes to living environments can be made and adjustments to individual care plans can be implemented to provide an enriched wellbeing for the residents.
Emma Philpot, Head of Operations at Adept Care Homes, which manages The Old Vicarage and 7 other family-run homes across the midlands, said: “This is a great opportunity for our team to experience, these outstanding professional tools offer unique and essential perspective to our team and family members. Spending just a few minutes undergoing the virtual simulation will allow them to step into the shoes of someone living with dementia and understand some of the challenges they face.”
“The training will be invaluable, and our team will be using their experiences to make any necessary adjustments to help improve day to day living for our residents who are living with dementia. We will also be inviting teams from across all our homes so they too can receive the same level of training, and we can further develop our dementia care services, said Karen Middleton, Adepts Dementia Manager”
Investment in the Virtual Dementia Tour is part of Adept’s new Dementia Program to enhance its dementia care offering across all its homes.
Karen added: “We’re excited to be leading the way and having the tour bus on site is the first step towards our vision for enhancing dementia care services across Derbyshire and the Midlands. Good training and support are essential for our team. We know that a one sized approach does not fit all, we must first understand the person who is living with dementia, and we want every person to not only live well with dementia but thrive and allows us to ensure our home is a superb place to live or work.
If you are looking for dementia care or need any further help contact the home on 01246 384 121.”