The NHS has launched ‘The Long Term Plan’ to create a service in the next ten years that will be ‘fit for purpose’ and will improve patient care.
The plan specifically mentions the importance of improving outcomes for people living with dementia through technology, early detection and an increase in community support.
Empowered Conversations welcomes the expansion of community support set out by the Plan, which includes investing in community health teams, ramping up NHS support for people living in care homes and giving 2.5 million more people access to ‘social prescribing’, a personal health budget, and new support for managing their own health in partnership with patients’ groups and the voluntary sector.
Dr Phil McEvoy, chief executive of Six Degrees, the social enterprise behind the Empowered Conversations training, said:
“The family carers who attend our dementia communications workshops tell us time and time again how important it is to have the right care and support in place for both themselves and their loved ones to live well with a diagnosis of dementia.
“This support isn’t necessarily found in a GP practice or hospital setting – it is the social groups, the access to transport, and the belief that there are community services who can act as a safety net when things get tough.
The more carers of people living with dementia can get access to these solutions in their community, the more optimistic we can feel about the prospect of truly living well with dementia.”