This Dementia Action Week, John Stevenson, MP for Carlisle and his staff in the Carlisle constituency office have undertaken dementia awareness training in order to become ‘Dementia Friends’.
According to recent information from Alzheimer’s Research UK, every day almost 600 people in the UK develop dementia. People over 65 are much more likely to get dementia but it can affect younger people too and more women than men are currently being diagnosed. At the moment, there is no cure so once a person has dementia they will have it for the rest of their lives. Making it easier for those diagnosed to lead as independent a life as possible, whilst still contributing to their communities and feeling valued for who they are is vitally important.
John said, ‘It was important to me to better understand how we can help support people living with dementia in our communities and the small things we can all do to make a difference to their lives. I have heard how the condition can impact people and I would urge everyone to become a Dementia Friend so that we can all do our bit to make our communities a warm and welcoming place to live.’