What we've achieved so far

“I have been taking my Dementia Champion role very seriously and have so far trained 60 colleagues to be Dementia Friends, explaining what dementia is, what everyone can do to support people living with dementia, and what we are doing at Connect including as part of the Taskforce. All colleagues have been issued with badges and certificates. It was all relatively easy to do and has already had an impact with colleagues expressing interest in knowing and doing more.”

“My contact at Leeds City Council is developing a ‘post diagnosis leaflet’, previously this didn’t include any reference to housing, however, following our discussion they will look to include a link to Leeds Housing Options and the Leeds Directory where someone could access more information and support regarding housing."

“Our Supported Housing and Housing with Care schemes are all designed with dementia in mind. Our more recently built properties include apartment design aspects such as the bathroom as an ensuite but also accessible from the hall, with non-patterned, plain tiling and obscured glass fronts in the kitchen. In all our schemes we have colour themed floors to aid familiarity and recognition and directional signs throughout with access to ample seated garden areas."

“We’ve adopted dementia-friendly ‘HAPPI’ design principles in new homes, which include a flexible layout, increased daylight and access to the quality outdoor space. We’ve also introduced assistive technology – for instance 24/7 warden alarm system for peace of mind, which can also be used with a pendant which raises an alarm automatically if a fall is detected.”

“Several dementia-friendly guides have been published for proposed older peoples’ housing. There are already some great examples out there, for instance the King’s Fund guide. The unique thing the Taskforce has done is consider and produce dementia-ready criteria for general needs homes, both proposed and existing. This includes quick fixes for existing homes that can be done between tenancies, like changing a lock on a bathroom door, so that someone can open it from the outside in an emergency. Other criteria reflect the importance of community, nature and the outdoors. The Taskforce’s criteria have been developed so that they are clear, relatively easy and cost effective to implement.”