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Dementia support 'must improve'

27/11/2007

All care staff should be given mandatory dementia training to reduce inequalities in standards of residential home care, charities have said today.

Improved training would improve the quality of life for almost a quarter of a million people living with dementia in residential care, according to the Alzheimer's Society.

It says that care homes should operate as specialist dementia care providers.

At present a typical person with dementia in a care home spends two minutes in every six hours socially interacting with other people, the charity claims.

Its survey of more than 3,500 people including those affected by dementia, care home staff and managers found that more than half of people with a relative in residential care say there is not enough for the person with dementia to do each day.

A quarter of family carers surveyed said they do not receive enough information about the care and treatment of the person they look after.

Alzheimer's Society chief executive Neil Hunt commented: "Hundreds of thousands of people with dementia are living in residential care and yet the majority of staff do not have adequate training.

"We hear the horror stories, but also the hope among people with dementia and their carers about the difference good dementia care can make."

He added: "Care homes must operate as specialist care providers with dementia training a mandatory requirement for all staff. Dementia training ensures care staff understand the reality of the condition as well as the positive impact they can have on people living with a diagnosis and their carers."

The charity's campaign for improved training has been supported by Counsel and Care, which said today's survey shows "the lack of influence families and carers have over what their loved ones experience in the care home environment".

"The fact that two-thirds of care home residents have some form of dementia means that action is needed now," said Counsel and Care chief executive Stephen Burke.

"[The] government needs to provide the funding to improve social activities in care homes, involve families and carers by providing information, and allowing them to make key decisions about the care of residents. People with dementia must also be treated with respect, and families should not fear reprisals if they make a complaint."