Castlepollard Dementia Group are having an information evening and launching their document, ‘Castlepollard A Dementia Inclusive Community’, on Thursday April 23 in the Hotel Castle Varagh (7pm).

The aim of the event is to raise awareness of dementia and to inspire the local community to take action to welcome and include people with dementia and their families in community life.

Assisting at the evening are the ‘Dementia Understand Together’ campaign, which is led by the HSE, working in partnership with the Alzheimer Society of Ireland, Age Friendly Ireland, Alone, Engaging Dementia, the Dementia Services Information and Development Centre, Age and Opportunity and Healthy Ireland.

The vision of the Castlepollard Dementia Committee is to help create an Ireland that embraces and includes people living with dementia, and displays solidarity with them, their families.

They want to inspire the community to take actions to include and support people with dementia. The event will also be an opportunity to highlight local supports and services.

Topics

The key topics are: Understanding of dementia, what it is and how dementia can affect the person and their family; the aim of the Understand Together campaign to raise awareness and understanding for dementia and to inspire people to get involved and create inclusive communities; the importance of being socially connected and actively engaged in hobbies and community life for health and wellbeing for people with dementia and families; interview with person with dementia about what the 6 actions mean to them on a practical level; information on services and supports for people affected by dementia.

Guest speakers on evening are: Pauline Lee, whose area of expertise is dementia, understand together and brain health; and Clair Harte, the Longford Westmeath dementia advisor. Clair works for The Alzheimer Society of Ireland and will speak about local dementia services.

The following groups will have information stands on the evening: Alone; Alzheimer Society of Ireland (ASI); Age Friendly Healthy Homes; Carers Association; Local Link; Garda Síochána.

There will be a chat with a person living with dementia and members of the Castlepollard committee, who acknowledge the support of Westmeath County Council, will be on hand to assist in any way. A question and answer session will finish the evening, and tea and coffee will be served.

Six actions we can all take

The campaign recommends actions everyone can take to support people with dementia and their families:

• See the person, not the dementia. Just because someone has received a diagnosis of dementia, doesn’t mean they’re not the same person they always were. Remember dementia is the condition, it’s not the person.

• Talk about dementia. The more we talk about dementia, the more we can raise awareness and importantly, we help to break down any stigma there may be. Don’t be afraid to talk to loved ones, friends and neighbours whether you’ve received diagnosis yourself or know someone who has.

• Stay in touch. It’s important that we stay in touch with people with dementia and also any family members caring to support them. Staying connected is key for all of our wellbeing and you could be making a big difference just by reaching out and offering a listening ear.

• Ask how you can help. Many of these actions focus on asking how you can help. Let your actions be guided by the person with dementia, let them tell you what they do or don’t need help with and the best way you can support them, eg taking them to an appointment or picking up a prescription or groceries.

• Support the person to keep up the hobbies and interests they have always enjoyed. Just because a person has dementia doesn’t mean that they won’t want to do the things they have always enjoyed or even try something new.

We can enable people to stay active and connected, maybe by driving them to a GAA match or social dancing, offering to join them for a walk, dropping in for a visit – all simple steps we can take.

As well as helping a person with dementia, it’s a good idea to keep all our brains active and engaged.

• Make sure your service or space is easy to use. We are encouraging business, services and organisations to make sure that their premises are accessible for people to attend and that any staff or volunteers have awareness of dementia and can offer support if people need it.

Often this is just showing kindness and patience, but you may also want to make sure signage is clear and that you can offer people more time or a quiet area to take a moment.