A HOME care provider is expanding the services it offers in the Forest with the launch of a new complex service specific to the needs of dementia sufferers.

Gloucestershire-based Bramble Home Care, which has provided domiciliary care in the Forest for three years now, introduced its new dementia-focused home care packages at an event at its office in Cinderford on August 16.

The new service offers greater support to people living with dementia, with staff receiving additional training on how they might overcome challenges that are specific to dementia sufferers.

Taking steps such as entering a person’s line of sight to limit the confusion they feel, or guiding their hands to help them pick up items can all help to remove barriers faced by dementia suffers and their carers.

Bramble staff have been up-skilled for the new service by taking a three-month dementia care course led by the One Gloucestershire integrated care system.

Operations Manager Amanda Morgan explained: “We’re getting more and more people living In the community with dementia, including now post-war baby boomers.

“So we’ve up-skilled some of our staff as dementia workers, and we’ve got two more staff training next month, who will be able to support their peers in the community.

“Where you’ve got somebody with dementia whom everybody thinks, ‘oh, they’re not compliant’, or ‘they’re hard work’, ‘we can’t get them out of bed in the mornings’ or ‘we can’t get them in the shower’ - these carers will be up-skilled to know how to encourage this, how to achieve those goals.

“By doing this we’re also hoping to stop people’s care packages from breaking down.

“When a client has dementia and they’ve become really hard to handle for a domiciliary care provider, they hand the packages back, and sometimes the client can go through two or three providers until they find the right one.

“When packages break down, that’s often when they’ll end up in a care home, and that shortens their lifespan.

“So if we can provide that support at home, we can stop the trend of upheaval, which is unsettling for the family - they may be worried about somebody else going into their loved one’s home, or going into a care home - so we’re looking at supporting them as well as the person that needs the care.”

The launch event in Cinderford was attended by Councillor Simon Phelps, in his role as Vice Chair of the Forest Council, and Cinderford Mayor Cllr Roger Sterry, along with a range of community healthcare professionals and members of the public.

Staff were on hand to demonstrate some of the techniques they have learnt to help dementia sufferers, including via the use of a set of goggles which remove your peripheral vision, to simulate how dementia affects a person’s sight.

Amanda added that Bramble are actively recruiting for complex and dementia care workers in the Forest

Anyone interested must have at least three years experience working with people with dementia.

Those interested in the service or job opportunities can go to www.bramblehomecare.co.uk, call 01684 217040 or pop in to have a chat at their office on Cinderford High Street.