Dementia Awareness Week

This year between May 17th and May 23rd the Alzheimer’s Society are hosting Dementia Awareness Week in another attempt to raise awareness and understanding of the condition.

In 2014 over 550 awareness-raising events were held throughout Dementia Awareness Week. The events encouraged the general public to “open up and share their concerns about dementia,” following a poll by the charity which reported that 40% of people affected by the condition have bottled up their worries. Events ranged from a singing flashmob in Coventry’s city centre, to information stands and tea dances.

At Valli Opticians we know how important it is for us as healthcare professionals to be aware of dementia. We ensure that all of our staff have the right knowledge, skills and time which are essential components to providing good care for all of our patients and, in particular, the needs of those suffering from dementia. With practices in Wakefield, Kirklees and Calderdale, all dementia friendly areas, we are well placed to deliver excellent patient care to those clients who need tailored consultations as a result of dementia.

At Valli Opticians we aim to constantly improve our staff’s understanding and knowledge of dementia to enable them to deliver excellent patient care that will have a positive influence for those living with the condition. This includes providing our staff with a greater awareness so that they:

• Are aware of the need to give frequent reminders – e.g. of who they are and what they’re doing.

• Frontline staff are aware that the patient might not be able to express their needs, or express their needs in different ways to the norm.

• Our staff are encouraged to try to see things from the patient’s perspective and take into account their feelings.

• We are all aware of the need to try to look beneath the surface rather than taking the person’s words at face value.

Tim Shakespeare, a research fellow for Alzheimer’s Research UK at the Dementia Research Centre, University College London, said: “As the population ages more and more people are being diagnosed with dementia. This can mean that people are less able to communicate or travel to access care, so treatable eye conditions may be missed”.

At Valli Opticians we know that not everyone
can get to one of our practices for an eye test or treatment. We provide an excellent domiciliary service to people in their homes and residential homes. Because we’re local to our patients they will generally see the same friendly optician on their home visits as they saw when they came into practice previously. This means they see an eyecare professional who really gets to know them and they get to know the staff members. This helps to make a connection, easing communication and allowing staff to adapt their approach to our patients needs. Also by offering a local service we can offer a prompt response in the case of an emergency.

Valli Opticians combine the latest mobile comprehensive eye testing equipment which includes handheld computers and iPads with the very best in traditional values of excellent customer service. At Valli Opticians we really do care about our patients’ eyes and their health so our in-depth eye tests will check for problems such as cataracts, glaucoma and macular degeneration, and can detect problems such as diabetes and high blood pressure.

Our domiciliary staff carry a wide selection of frames which will suit all budgets and they can also source specific styles if required. When the glasses are ready a member of our team will come back to fit the glasses and they can even call back to readajust them whenever necessary.