Sheffield to benefit from care ideas from ‘world leader in dementia care’ Japan

A dementia day centre worker will soon be taking a trip to Japan and Canada after she won a Fellowship to visit the countries.
Becca Ling at work in The Age UK Sheffield Wellbeing Centre. Photo by Eve Hopkinson.Becca Ling at work in The Age UK Sheffield Wellbeing Centre. Photo by Eve Hopkinson.
Becca Ling at work in The Age UK Sheffield Wellbeing Centre. Photo by Eve Hopkinson.

Becca Ling, from Age UK Sheffield’s Wellbeing Centre, was one of just 150 successful applicants out of 1,800 who sought a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship.

The Fellowship application started in September and took six months to complete.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Becca will spend six weeks in May and June exploring the best dementia day service provision in the Far East and North America, before bringing her learning and ideas back to Sheffield.

Becca is particularly excited about the Japanese leg of her visit.

She said: “Japan has one of the highest life expectancy rates in the world. In 2015 Japan launched its orange plan, specifically aimed at tackling the approach to improving dementia care across the country. They are now a world leader in dementia care, and I’m excited about visiting Uji City.

“It is the first dementia-friendly community with an ethos that ‘the earlier people are included in a care network, the better and longer they live in the community.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Becca’s trip will take her to visit experts and projects to learn about different types of activities and groups, how they support carers, and how to engage people after a diagnosis of dementia, especially those who are hard to reach.

She will return to Sheffield in the summer and has pledged to spread her learning throughout the city’s dementia community and the national Age UK network.

Age UK Sheffield is an independent local charity which provides information, advice, services and resources to people aged 50 and over in our city.

They rely on support from the community and are supported by donations from the public.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Age UK Sheffield’s Wellbeing Centre already provides a person-centred approach, based on what people can do.

Becca said: “Our days are always full of activities. Whether it’s creative arts, nature walks, games or baking, we create an environment for people to feel a sense of belonging, to be mentally and physically active and to socialise in a safe and friendly space.

“It’s about increasing people’s confidence and sense of purpose.” For more details about the centre, call 0114 250 2850.