As a company Magenta is proud to be a Dementia Friend and we were extremely fortunate to be offered dementia friends training by one of our very own clients Judith Jeeves.
Did you know that there are just over 50 million people living with dementia and that a new case of dementia is diagnosed every 3 seconds!, that is a frighteningly large number and we wanted to play our part in helping make more people aware of the disease.
The whole team took part in the training which was done through zoom. Thankfully, the connection was pretty stable, and we were able to do the whole session without too many technical issues.
It was lovely for us all to meet Judith (albeit virtually this time), who made the training not only informative but also interactive and enjoyable. Everyone was made to feel part of the session and gave answers and opinions.
We especially enjoyed the “how many steps are there to making a cup of tea”. We all had different answers and it surprised us to see how many variants there were and how we all take simple tasks such as making a cup of tea for granted.
Having had a relative who had vascular dementia I was surprised to find out how many different types of dementia there are. Recently there has been a lot in the news regarding how certain sports are potentially causing early onset dementia for some players. Whilst awareness has grown, we are still a long way off from understanding everything about this cruel disease.
Judith asked us what our thoughts and ideas about dementia where, we were surprised to find out that dementia is not just a normal part of ageing, that anyone, at any age can be diagnosed with it, that it isn’t just memory loss, but can also affect behaviour, balance and speech. As with most diseases early diagnosis can make a big difference. Knowing the signs to look out for and having an awareness is so important.
We also discussed the impact dementia has on not only the person with dementia but their loved ones and carers. We so often look at the person who has the disease, but we forget that their loved ones are also going to need support.
For us, having dementia awareness training means we are better prepared to spot the signs of dementia, be able to offer our support to a family member and provide information in the appropriate manner. Being a Dementia Friend means being committed to helping raise awareness.
The good news is that the number of new dementia cases in the UK is falling, according to Alzheimer’s research UK. There is a lot of research being done on dementia, but as with most things more is needed. If like us you want to become a dementia friend then follow the link to their page https://www.dementiafriends.org.uk