Facing up to Dementia
Dementia-friendly Red Coat guided tours of Exeter look set to be introduced in the city.
The tours are just one of a whole raft of measures being introduced by Exeter City Council as it strives to help people living with the condition.
More than 180 taxi drivers in Exeter have now received dementia-awareness training from the City Council as part of the wide-reaching initative.
As more and more people are being diagnosed with dementia, the City Council has once again revealed its commitment to the challenges faced by arguably the biggest health crisis facing the UK and how it is helping those with the condition to access its services.
Two years ago the Council became a member of the Exeter Dementia Action Alliance, joining over 50 organisations and businesses working to make the city dementia friendly.
Among the actions being taken up by the City Council to help those suffering from dementia and their relatives friends and carers, are:
- Offering people with dementia later appointments in the day
- Continuing to support dementia Friends staff training across the Council
- Getting appropriately trained staff in the Council’s Customer Service Centre to wear dementia Friends badges
- Looking to establish dementia training as a compulsory requirement for taxi drivers
- Establishing dementia-friendly Red Coat Guided tours of the city
- Encouraging organisations to apply for allotments for use by those with dementia
- Ensuring that information on dementia-friendly activities is available at Exeter Visitor Information and Tickets
It is estimated that there are currently some 850,000 people living with dementia in the UK and this figure is predicted to rise to 2 million by 2051. Research suggests that individuals with dementia can often feel depressed, anxious, isolated and often stigmatised and not part of the community.
Cllr Phil Bialyk, Lead Councillor for Health and Wellbeing, Communities & Sport, said: “Over recent years we have adapted the way we work to improve the provision of services to those with dementia and their carers. However there’s always room to improve!
“We have to recognise that dementia will affect more and more people in Exeter as time goes by and we will do everything possible to help those who live with this dreadful condition.”
