Halcyon Home Care appoints Dementia Champion

MAIDENHEAD, U.K. - Oct. 21, 2013 - PRLog -- Local home care services provider, Halcyon Home Care, has appointed a Dementia Champion. Ann Smith, a Senior Carer with 11 years of experience as a care assistant, senior and operation co-ordinator, has accepted the role. She will, with immediate effect, be commencing a best practices programme to support current and future customers in Maidenhead, Windsor and Ascot. In a climate of huge concern over elderly care quality standards Halcyon Home Care is demonstrating its commitment to absolute excellence and putting resources in place to support the growing number of people in Berkshire living with dementia.

Just as in the rest of Britain, Berkshire faces a steadily ageing population and a steady increase in the numbers of people with dementia. Nationally, David Cameron’s Dementia Challenge, which launched in March 2012, aims to tackle the issues affecting people living with dementia by driving improvements in health and care, creating dementia-friendly communities and improving dementia research.  Locally, as the number of people living with the condition increases it is likely to put additional strain on resources. Halcyon Home Care is a CQC-approved care services provider which works with the RWBM local authority as well as with private clients.

This appointment means the business will be better prepared to deliver the very best care possible. The key tasks will be to develop: a shared vision of best practice in caring at home for dementia sufferers; a specialist carer in dementia from a thorough understanding of dementia and the challenges it presents to the provision of care in the home; a training programme to share this knowledge across the Halcyon Home Care workforce; an annual Dementia Care Audit of the practices of Halcyon Home Care for its customers with dementia.
Halcyon Home Care has first-hand understanding of the real need for older people to maintain independence and control. It believes that caring for someone living at home with dementia is an area where all care agencies should endeavour to make improvements in quality. Its recent announcement is a fighting step towards helping to plan for the future now.

Said Ann: “This is an important idea that I wanted to be a part of. It won’t be simple, as in my experience no two people with dementia are affected in the same way or have the same home environment and circumstance. But we already provide care that is appreciated and this work will help us provide it every time to the best of our ability while learning how to do it even better.”

Paul Dunn-Sims, Executive Partner of Halcyon Home Care, commented: “We feel we have to stay at the front of any developments in care practices for people with Alzheimer’s and other dementia illnesses. By appointing Ann, we can develop a specialist who remains a hands-on carer and will see it from a care perspective rather than as a medical specialist. Our aim is to develop a culture of best practice and understanding across our care teams, led by the specialist input of Ann that can be called upon when customers need it.”
 
Supplementary information
• The Alzheimer’s Society estimates that by 2021 there will be one million people with a form of dementia in the UK, and that steady growth is expected to over 1.7 million by 2051. The financial cost of dementia to the UK will be over £23 billion in 2012.
• In the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead the population of elderly residents is steadily growing (a result of improved lifestyles, diets, and medical advancements). The RBWM Local Development Framework1 publishes that approximately 15% of the Royal Borough's population are aged 65 years and over and 2% of the population are aged 85 years and over. This is the highest proportion of all of the authorities in Berkshire. What's more, population projections for the borough suggest that there will be an increase of nearly 24% in the 65-84 age range, and nearly 55% in the number of over 85 year olds by 2020. With dementia currently affecting 7% of the borough’s population of 65 years and over this is projected to rise by 35% by 2020.

1. http://www.rbwm.gov.uk/public/pp_ageing_population_spd_document.pdf

Halcyon Homecare
Halcyon Homecare is a privately run home care specialist providing local quality care and support services to the elderly in and around the Maidenhead, Ascot and Windsor areas. Halcyon understands that for most people who require care, remaining at home for as long as possible is the preferred choice. It strongly supports this preference and is committed to bringing the elderly at home the personal independence, comfort, living style and contact with their local community that can be lost when care is provided in care homes. Halcyon Homecare has been registered with the Care Quality Commission since 2010. Further information at www.halcyonhomecare.co.uk
--- End ---