Caring for someone with dementia can be difficult and taking them out socially can be a real challenge.
At Age UK Wirral our ethos is to support older people of Wirral with their physical health, mental health and wellbeing. A large part of our services directly supports people with dementia and their carers, these clients are part of out early onset dementia, day care and residential services.
Our care staff are constantly looking at ways to enrich, engage and encourage memory. Taking dementia clients out into social outdoor settings can be very challenging and distressing for both clients and carers.
Our vision would be to have one of these pods in each of our care centres, this would provide visual and sensory stimulation for our clients without the stress of unsettling their routine. Carers will be able to visit their family member, sit and enjoy a train journey by absorbing the visual, audio and and scene as the train makes its journey.
Clients will also be able to sit with each other and take themselves on an imaginary journey in the safety of our care. Imagine the scene, clients are invited to purchase their own tickets from our ticket booth and then take their seats aboard the train for a lovely countryside trip taking in the sounds and beauty of the British countryside passing by.
The benefits to our clients to be able to take themselves out of the building for an hour of relaxation are enormous, this train pod can be used for many hours on a daily basis and could help ease the confusion that goes hand in hand with dementia.