Agenda item

Members will be provided with a verbal update about services provided to the community as part of The Dementia Peer Support Project. This is a community based service for people living with dementia and their carers.

Danny Maher (Chief Executive Officer, Ashford Place) gave Members a verbal update about services provided to the community as part of The Dementia Peer Support Project. He explained that the project had been commissioned in September 2016 and it had been delivered jointly by Community Action on Dementia and Ashford Place with the aim to make Brent a Dementia-friendly borough.

Mr Maher highlighted that the approach taken had been different from previous similar services as the project was client-led which could be proved by the fact that two years had been spent talking to people living with Dementia to collect information about their perceptions, views, services and support systems. It emerged that people affected by the condition wanted to have support and stay away from institutions for as long as possible.

People living with Dementia had been recruited to design services for other people affected by the condition and ten people affected by Dementia were co-acting as peers for other people. Mr Maher said the project had been launched by people living with Dementia and he informed the Committee that there were plans to open ten new Dementia cafes in Brent, which would provide opportunities for people affected by the condition at a very little cost.    

Members of the Committee thanked Mr Maher for the verbal update and expressed their support to The Dementia Peer Support Project. Questions raised related to potential sharing of information and integration with other services to ensure a holistic approach, where the individual would be put in the centre of service provision, and the outcomes for residents. Mr Maher explained that people affected by Dementia had had long conversations with commissioners and the Social Isolation in Brent Initiative (SIBI) had been identified as the best vehicle to deliver the service in a holistic way. In terms of outcomes, the Committee heard that people’s confidence and knowledge about how to manage the condition had increased which made them feel in control and gave them an opportunity to decide what they wanted to do, while pressure on medical and social services had decreased.

In response to Members’ questions relating to the diversity profile of people suffering from Dementia and the engagement of people affected by the changes to the benefit system, Mr Maher explained that Dementia affected all parts of the community. He spoke about the negative stereotypes associated with the condition in some communities and cultures, and emphasised that the project was aimed at capacity-building as it helped people to find out more about resources and services available to them. In terms of benefit system changes, Mr Maher said that it was unlikely for people affected by the Benefit Cap to have been included in the project due to their age group being exempt from the Cap.

Members enquired whether Ashford Place would lobby for increased funding for The Dementia Peer Support Project and what a Dementia-friendly borough would look like. Mr Maher said that Ashford Place would like to continue with the project beyond the anticipated end and it could provide evidence to prove that the model worked so it would ask for additional funding. He explained that a Dementia-friendly borough would have improved signage (as at the Brent Civic Centre), audit of public buildings   and slow lanes with trained cashiers would be provided at shops, while professionals know about the services delivered in the borough. Andrew Davies (Programme Manager, Community Wellbeing) added that service integration was important as this would facilitate the delivery of a broader package of care and would link services such as social care and mental health support. He highlighted that using peer support was helpful for breaking barriers within communities. Mr Davies and Mr Maher expressed a view that they would like to discuss the process of designing a Dementia-friendly borough with the Committee as the project progressed. In response to a question about training offered to staff, Althea Loderick (Strategic Director, Resources) explained that Customer Services (including library staff) and Social Care staff were aware of Dementia, but she acknowledged that more could be done to promote this awareness to anyone who may interact with a member of the public affected by the condition.  

RESOLVED that:

(i)    The Brent Dementia Peer Support Project verbal update be noted; and 

(ii)  A report on the outcome of the project be provided to the Committee in January 2018.

Councillor Harrison entered the meeting during discussion of the above item at 7:28 pm.