Sheffield Care Home Offers Insight into Living with Dementia
Over 40 people took part in an immersive ‘dementia experience’ on a Virtual Dementia Tour Bus organised by luxury care home, Outram Fields, part of the Cinnamon Care Collection. The Bradway-based care home organised the initiative to give members of the local community, dementia support groups and residents’ families an insight into what it feels like to live with dementia.
The ‘dementia experience’ involved wearing glasses to impair vision, insoles that make walking uncomfortable and a device to inhibit hearing. By altering the participants’ senses, the Virtual Dementia Tour is the only scientifically and medically proven method of giving a person with a healthy brain the experience of living with dementia.
Donna Pierpoint, General Manager, Outram Fields said, “We are passionate about providing the very best dementia care and are always open to new learnings as well as sharing best practice. The Virtual Dementia Bus gave people the opportunity to walk in the world of someone living with dementia and gain a greater understanding about how to improve the care for a loved one who is on a dementia journey.”
Debra Wong, friend of an Outram Fields resident said, “Taking part in the Virtual Dementia Tour was a truly enlightening experience. Being placed in the shoes of someone living with dementia was both powerful and humbling. While memory loss is what we often associate with dementia, it was the sensory challenges and confusion I felt on the tour that were startling. It’s a reminder that we all need to approach dementia with greater empathy, patience, and understanding.”
Outram Fields is a purpose-built luxury care facility situated conveniently on Twentywell Lane which connects the three former Derbyshire villages of Upper Bradway, Bradway and Lower Bradway to the A621, Abbeydale Road. For more information, please visit: www.cinnamoncc.com/outram-fields