Dementia affects the brain, making it harder to remember things or think as clearly as before. It’s an umbrella term for over 100 different types of illnesses and disease symptoms. Symptoms of dementia may include memory loss and difficulties with day to day tasks, language and problem-solving.

Dementia is not a natural part of the ageing process. It’s caused by illnesses that affect the brain. We do not yet know exactly what causes dementia. Medical researchers all over the world are working to find causes and develop treatments.

Dementia can affect every area of human thinking, feeling and behaviour, but each person with dementia is different – how the illness affects someone depends on which area of their brain is damaged.

In Scotland, over 90,000 people have dementia. It is most common in older people but can affect people in their 40s and 50s or even younger.

Types of dementia

There are many conditions which cause dementia – these are some of the most common. It is also possible to have more than one type of dementia at the same time.

• Alzheimer’s disease: Gradually destroys brain cells and their connections. This affects how the person copes with everyday tasks.
• Vascular dementia: Is caused by problems with the blood supply to brain cells. It can involve tiny strokes which damage small areas of the brain.
• Dementia with Lewy bodies: It isn’t as easy to identify as some other types of dementia, so it can be hard to diagnose. It can include hallucinations and symptoms that are similar to Parkinson’s disease.
• Frontotemporal dementia: Affects the parts of the brain responsible for decision-making, control of behaviour as well as emotion and language.

How technology can help to support dementia sufferers

Now technology is available to enhance the wellbeing, support and independence of people living with dementia.

You’ll be pleased to know that Social Care Alba is working in partnership with Edinburgh Smart Home, whereby we can contact a Digital Dementia Advisor by submitting a referral form to arrange an assessment of your needs and to identify technologies (such as smart speakers, GPS devices) that can help your carer/family to a better support. Also helping you find technology products matched to your needs.

You will receive unbiased, trusted recommendations from the dementia community and from a team of experts. This is a free service funded by Alzheimer Scotland and the Scottish Government.

All of these products have been tried and tested by families living with dementia and the Digital Team at Alzheimer Scotland, using the Alzheimer Scotland Dementia Circle testing protocols, which give us insight to their potential usefulness for other families in similar circumstances.

We don’t sell anything, but all the products are available from retailers or on the high street.

Part of care that nobody sees, is what goes on behind the scenes to ensure people are safe.

Office staff on a typical day will be:

• Ordering stock
• Dealing with job applicants
• Organising training, interviews
• Handling visitors to the office
• Arranging rotas and holiday requests
• Doing a return to the Care Inspectorate
• Meeting with social work and Edinburgh Council
• Handling calls from staff, families and service users
• Handling timesheets, expenses and paying wages to staff

Here is what happened over and above, on just one day this week.

NHS call to confirm a staff member is Covid positive.

This triggered our welfare plan. Immediately the staff member is removed from the rota and we have to adjust all rotas to ensure everyone is supported.

Next, 2 office staff take covid tests to staff and service users in the community to check to see if they are positive.

Later that evening the NHS called to apologise that the test was in fact negative. This meant undoing all the changes we had made and informing staff and service users not to worry.

Staff member is unwell

Staff like all of us get ill. When this happens we need to cover their shift, which may mean changes to visits.

Service user is not at home when we visit

When we visited there was no answer, we called the police for a welfare check and found the flat empty. This led to the police looking for the service user in case they were in distress. Later that day we found them well, having forgotten to inform us they would be going out.

Service user passes away

During a visit a service user became unwell, emergency services were called, sadly they passed away. Our priority was the welfare of them and their next of kin.

All these incidents were unforeseen and when they occurred our main concern is the welfare of all staff and service users. As you can see, to protect people we must react quickly. This often means visits need to be changed which can be unsettling for service users and staff. Hopefully you can see that we never change visits unless there is an immediate need to do so, but when we do it is for your welfare.

Finally, at 11pm we stopped for the day.

We know how difficult it has been for you during these past months. We want to let you know we have been working hard to ensure you can have the best support possible. We invested in technology and staff development and we will continue to look for ways to improve even further. And most importantly, we will continue to be here for you.

Read more about our our goals

Supporting your wellbeing

We will continue to ensure you experience compassion, dignity and respect. That you get the right service, your health benefits from the support we provide, and most importantly you the get the most out of life.

Staff are well led

Our vision and values will continue to inform practice and we will monitor this through quality audits we share with you. Our leaders will collaborate to ensure people are supported and well led.

Creating great staff teams

We will work to maintain our best practice recruitment approach, recruiting staff that have the knowledge, competence and skills needed to care for and support our people. We will continue to ensure we have the right staff level and mix of skills to meet people’s needs.

Planning care and support

We will continue to encourage the involvement of family members in the support plan and invest in technology, ensuring our staff has the tools they need to assess our service users’ requirements and wishes.

Our capacity for improvement

Looking back at what we did well and what we can do better, we will continue to improve our development plan and provide support to more people.

Supporting you through the COVID-19 pandemic

We never stop looking for ways to support your physical, mental or emotional health. We will keep you connected, respected and treated with dignity throughout the pandemic. This means doing everything we can to stop the spread of Covid-19. From responsive and flexible staffing to improving your knowledge and skills to stay safe.

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Summer has officially finished, and for a short time we had respite from COVID restrictions. Unfortunately, with a 2nd wave building I fear Winter will be hard for all of us. I wanted to reassure you that we are still fighting it and to update you on some of the changes we have or are making.

1st Wave – A few things we did included:

• Working from home
• 3D printing face shields
• Moving all our recruitment online
• Opening a dedicated recruitment office
• Making facemasks and sourcing hand sanitiser
• Moving all our care and support documents online
• Keeping you updated online, by phone, email and text

2nd Wave – Some of the things we are doing include:

• Building a stock of PPE from suppliers
• 60% of office staff now work from home
• The remaining 40% have homeworking days
• Implementing a dedicated fibre line to the office
• Installing video conferencing facilities in the office
• Opening training to staff, service users and families
• Pairing teams to ensure continuity where absences occur
• Creating new runs and staff teams which improves continuity
• Moving our office from 1 to 3 rooms to create social distancing
• Moving to eMAR – electronic medication records by December
• Encouraging staff, service users and families to get a flu vaccination
• Sarah our communication lead will send monthly updates to everyone

How you can help?

• Wash your hands and clean surfaces regularly
• Get a flu vaccination to protect you and others
• If you can, wear a face mask to protect each other
• Our office is open 09:00 to 17:00 Monday to Friday
• Only call outside of office hours if it is an emergency
• Please use our Quarter mile office if you want to visit us
• Please get a mobile, or internet connection so we can video chat with you