‘Real strides’ being made to support people with dementia in Hartlepool according to health bosses

Praise has been given for the ‘real strides’ made in dementia support services in Hartlepool over recent years.
Hartlepool Civic CentreHartlepool Civic Centre
Hartlepool Civic Centre

Hartlepool Borough Council’s adult services committee heard from health bosses specialising in dementia care as it looked at work being done in the area.

The North Tees Dementia Collaborative lead Corinne Walsh discussed the work done by the project since it was launched in 2012 and said a great deal of training has been done with a range of organisations.

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She said: “The work that we are doing is wide ranging, we’re doing a lot of awareness raising and encouraging people to go to the GP.

“We’ve seen the landscape starting to change for supporting people with dementia.

“We’ve got The Bridge, dementia advisors, information directors, Hartlepool Now and interactive community service maps.

“It’s testament to the work that has been going on.

“New areas of work continue to be identified and benefit people living in Hartlepool.

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“Currently we’re looking at how to improve the service for younger people diagnosed with dementia.”

The group has been working with a variety of businesses and organisations in the town over the past seven years to provide a variety of dementia awareness and support sessions.

Staff added the number of dementia champions has increased from two when when they started to 38.

They have also offered support and advice to 54 organisations with 70 representatives, while another 81 people also receive information from the collaborative.

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It comes as figures estimate by 2030, 1,794 in Hartlepool over the age of 65 will be living with dementia in the town, a rise from  1,278 in 2018.

Councillors and health bosses praised the progress made, while noting more work still needs to be done to improve the services on offer in Hartlepool.

Coun Stephen Thomas said: “Clearly there is a massive amount of work happening in Hartlepool and some real strides have been made over the past 10 years.

“I really would applaud the tremendous work that has gone on in Hartlepool over the last seven years around dementia, around raising awareness of dementia as a condition, around putting support in place, around starting to challenge some of those stigmas that sadly are still out there for people who live with dementia.

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“If you look at where Hartlepool was seven years ago we’ve come an awful long way.

“We’re still on a journey, still only part way through that journey, but some very important steps are being taken in Hartlepool to make hartlepool a far more dementia friendly community to what it was seven years ago.”

Nic Marko , Local Democracy Reporting Service