DORSET HealthCare NHS Trust is celebrating Dementia Awareness Week until Saturday by promoting a new booklet to help health and social care professionals see people with dementia as individuals.
The ‘This is Me’ booklet – endorsed by the Royal College of Nursing and the Alzheimer’s Society – is a tool that people with dementia and their families can use to tell their carers about their needs, preferences, likes, dislikes and interests.
It was originally developed for patients going into hospital but Dorset HealthCare’s ‘Dementia and Dignity Champions’ are encouraging its use in any professional care setting.
Dementia and Dignity Lead for Dorset HealthCare’s Community Health Services Elaine Brown said: “‘This is Me’ is an easy way of building a better understanding of who the patient really is.”
The booklet provides information – such as when a person likes to go to bed and get up, foods they like or dislike, important routines, things that worry them, what makes them feel less anxious and the name they like to be called. It should be completed by the individual who knows the person best and, preferably, in conjunction with the person who has dementia.
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