[lead]This week, staff across various departments at Oliver & Co took part in a dementia workshop to learn more about this life changing condition. We learnt about the early signs of dementia and how we can help people who have this condition – whether it be relatives, friends or clients.[/lead]
Helping clients and the wider community
This training, whilst informative, also aligns with our values as a firm, ensuring we are helping our clients first and foremost and also the wider community through raising awareness and supporting events.
Our staff commented that it was interesting to hear about the recent developments in the fight against the disease with the money invested in research and the development of the Alzheimer’s drug known as Donanemab.
Supporting people at home
The dementia workshop was delivered by Mary Costello-Smith from Home Instead. Home Instead offer personal and tailored care for people who want to continue living at home for as long as possible, but perhaps need some support to do so. Mary herself, joined Home Instead after experiencing first hand the wonderful work they did for her father-in-law in the later years of his life.
September is World Alzheimer’s Month
September is World Alzheimer’s Month – a global campaign to raise awareness and challenge the stigma surrounding Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia. During the workshop we learnt some shocking statistics:
Over 944,000 people live with dementia in the UK
Every three seconds, someone in the world develops dementia. There are currently over 944,000 people in the UK living with dementia and this is forecast to be over 1.1 million by 2030. It’s a disease that can affect anyone and is not always associated with old age – we learnt that 70,800 people in the UK are living with young-onset dementia which is when someone is diagnosed with dementia under the age of 65.
Planning for the future
These statistics, although frightening, remind us of how important it is to ensure documents such as Wills and Lasting Powers of Attorney are kept up to date. This is something we can help with at Oliver and Co, even if you are unsure whether it is perhaps the right time to make them.
If you are supporting someone who has recently been diagnosed with dementia and you think they could benefit from talking to someone about putting I place a Will or Lasting Power of Attorney then please call us on 01244 312 306.
