Dementia diagnosis: the key to dementia support in the community is nestled in local care home experience

Philip Stuart, Care Home Manager at Renaissance Care’s Cowdray Club in Aberdeen, has over 19years’ experience working in the care sector and prides himself on being part of a team that offers personalised support to care home residents, community members and families who require elderly or specialist dementia support.

A dementia diagnosis can be shocking for many families. It signals a change in life as you know it and, in my experience, takes families time to adjust to a new sense of normality that is ever-changing given the nature of the disease.

At Renaissance Care, I believe it’s our duty as care providers to support the entire community at a time of diagnosis. For many families they want to keep loved ones in the family home for as long as possible, and that’s definitely feasible with the right care and support. For others, they want specialist support or intermittent respite support that Renaissance Care is able to offer at local care homes.

The reach of our support needs to go beyond just the individual diagnosed with dementia, though. Without providing adequate support for the network of family carers that are so imperative to a rounded care approach, we are failing in our duty to our local communities and local families.

This is why, for us at Cowdray Club, we are passionate about supporting families in coming to terms with a dementia diagnosis, as much as we are committed to providing that personal care for the individual who has received the diagnosis. It’s a culture reflected across the entire organisation.  

Our teams are experienced and understand the complex emotions that come with a loved-one being diagnosed with dementia. There’s anger, frustration, helplessness and an overriding sense of fear that most people experience.

We understand what it’s like when someone is suddenly submerged in that melting pot of emotions and strive to provide a calm and supportive environment for families to air concerns, ask questions and lean into the expertise of people who have been through this journey on many occasions.

At Cowdray we have a range of residents living with dementia. One lady in particular is experiencing early on-set dementia which set in in her early 60s. She and her husband had a vision of what their life would look like: travelling, making memories together and experiencing the world on various different adventures, together.

Over a series of months, a change of behaviour including forgetfulness, out-of-character repetition and speaking but not making sense, prompted the couple to seek medical advice – a route that ultimately led to a diagnosis of dementia.

Her husband really struggled to come to terms with this in the beginning and went on his own journey of acceptance after they received the diagnosis.

He was scared and that manifested itself in many different ways including missed visits and heightened emotions, but my team is resilient and experienced, and we know that this is a very normal reaction to hearing life-changing news.

Not only was he struggling with a sense of loss and the disruption from this radical change in daily life from what he had previously imagined, but he was also toiling with the emotional conflict that comes with accepting professional help for a loved-one and moving them out of the family home.

Renaissance Care and the team at Cowdray recognise the complexities of a dementia diagnosis and we work with families to make the right decisions for them and their loved ones – whether that’s full-time care or respite support.

As care professionals we can bring a unique set of experiences to the table; we can empathise, we can support and we can reassure. I would urge any family facing a new dementia diagnosis to lean on their local care providers, as their experience will offer a sense of comfort in the journey and will help to highlight the many moments of joy still to be had with their loved one.