LOOPs: South EastTuesday, 24th March 2015 – 2pmBraidwood Centre, Dumbiedykes RoadMinute of Meeting:

PRESENT: Cath Cassidy (City of Edinburgh Council), Caroline Clark (City of Edinburgh Council), Stefan Milenkovic (EVOC), Heather Yang (Volunteer Centre Edinburgh), Andrew Senew (Home Instead), Margaret Campbell (City of Edinburgh Council), Wilma Nelson (Libertus), Andrea Powell (City of Edinburgh Council), Terry Blair (ACE-IT), Megan Kearney (Alzheimer Scotland), Jennifer Moir (Deaf Action), Alex Connan (Conan Doyle Medical Centre, NHS), Roy Henderson (Places for People)

Introductions: Introductions were noted with an explanations of current and upcoming activities. Megan Kearney and Cath Cassidy attended to deliver presentations on their work with/on behalf of people living with dementia with Wilma Nelson and Terry Blair attending to share information about their experiences of working directly with people at various stages of the condition. Dr. Alex Connan has attended to share her perspective on working with people with dementia from a Primary Care perspective.

Roy Henderson (Places for People) discussed their new D-Café for people living with dementia, carers and supporters which takes place at the Pleasance every Monday from 10:30am – 12:30pm. There is a £1.00 voluntary charge for the Café. For further information please contact Roy Henderson, Services Manager, Places for People, Pleasance Day Service, 7 West Adam Street, EH8 9SX – 0131 558 3728 roy.henderson@placesforpeople.org.uk

Volunteer Centre Edinburgh – Heather Yang – SE LOOPs Project: Heather provided an update on the work within the South East quadrant in respect of the work being carried out by the South East LOOPs project.

This work includes a telephone line which is available from 10am – 2pm daily (except weekends) which provides information to older people, carers, families and friends as well as to professionals working with same. The work is developing well, with strong support from volunteers. To contact the telephone line please call 0131 603 8311

With the telephone line now established, Heather has turned her attention to the second element of the work in the South East quadrant: ‘Chums’. This work entails the recruitment of existing service users within local organisations to provide one-off support to older people who may have experienced social isolation over a longer period of time and for whom that first attendance at an event might be quite daunting. The

work of these volunteers would include meeting, buddying and ‘debriefing’ and/or signposting with the new service user. If you are interested in finding out more about either of these pieces of work, please contact Heather directly:

Heather Yang, heather.yang@volunteeredinburgh.org.uk 0131 603 5144

For further information about the LOOPs projects in all quadrants please visit http://www.loopsprojects.org.uk/

Alzheimer Scotland – Megan Kearney – Dementia Link Worker Project. Megan provided an informational presentation about the current work of the Dementia Link Worker Project which is being delivered by Alzheimer Scotland in partnership with City of Edinburgh Council. The project is based upon the 5 Pillars of Post-Diagnostic Support framework which aims to ensure that people, in their first year subsequent to a dementia diagnosis, are connected with or more informed about:

Planning for the future: support to set up power of attorney and other legal issues Understanding the Illness and managing symptoms: support to come to terms with the illness and learn about self-management of the condition Planning for future care: support, when people are ready, to plan the shape of future care from their own perspective together with those around them, developing a personal plan with their choices, hopes and aspirations which can guide professionalsPeer support: from other people with dementia and their families and carers to help to come to terms with the illness and maintain wellbeing and resilience Supporting community connections: support to maintain and develop social networks.

Slides attached with referral form and guidance. If you would like to get in touch with Megan Kearney her contact details are: megan.kearney@edinburgh.gov.uk07769363360

Life Changes Trust: Caroline Clark provided the group with additional information about the Life Changes Trust’s Dementia Befriending programme (now closed) funding programme around Dementia Befriending. (this information was circulated around the LOOPS network late last month.) There are additional funding streams available with Life Changes Trust from time to time – with a current fund for Bright Ideas – one off pieces of work for which there a single maximum award of £50,000.

For further information about Life Changes Trust funding please see:

http://www.lifechangestrust.org.uk/funding/dementia_programme/dementia_programme_funding

City of Edinburgh Council – Cath Cassidy – Dementia Stigma Campaign:The City of Edinburgh Council’s Health and Social Care Comms Team has taken a key role in the development and delivery two campaigns focused around the challenges experienced by people living with dementia as well as work carried out to support the development of local dementia friendly communities. This work has heavily involved people living with dementia and their carers in both the development and steering of this work.

Dementia Awareness Campaign The Dementia Awareness campaign has focussed on raising awareness of the symptoms and effects of dementia with an aim of improving both awareness but also early diagnosis.

Dementia Stigma Campaign: Current work within this initiative includes the new Dementia Stigma Campaign which focuses on raising community awareness of the conditions and of endeavouring to make communities more supportive of people living with the condition. The campaign includes 6 top tips for removing barriers and supporting opportunities through the removal of stigma.

Those 6 top tips are (in short – please see attached leaflet for further info): 1. Learn the facts: find out about dementia and how it affects people who have it. 2. Help me join in: don’t write someone off because they have dementia.3. Use kind words: people often joke about dementia – they forget that it is a fatal condition. 4. Talk to me: Not knowing what to say to someone with dementia can stop people talking to them many people say that they

become invisible as soon as they tell others they have dementia. 5. Be patient: There are little things that everyone can do to help someone with dementia. 6. Be a friend: Keep in touch, social contact can help slow down the progress of dementia.

In addition to this work, the Comms Team have been working with businesses to support dementia friendly businesses and communities. One of the most developed pieces of work is at Sainsbury in Cameron Toll where small but highly effective changes are being implemented such as:

Slower checkout lanes: to ensure that people with dementia, and perhaps other people who might not want to hurry, are

able to do their shopping without being hurried. Placement of seating around the store and supportive staff who can assist customers facing challenges.

There is additional information about this work available of the City of Edinburgh Website at: http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/info/20076/adults_and_older_people/1236/dementia_friendly_edinburgh http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/info/20076/adults_and_older_people/91/dementia_and_alzheimers

Or please contact: Rachel Howe – Rachel.howe@edinburgh.gov.uk 0131 529 6552 or Cath Cassidy cath.cassidy@edinburgh.gov.uk 0131 529 4435Case Studies: Andrew Senew brought the case study about working in partnership to ensure that the needs of individuals are being met. This case included Home Instead being contacted by and working closely with Community Connecting and Reablement to ensure that a service user was able to get a bath. Andrew was keen to highlight this as a good example of professionals and volunteers from all sectors (independent, statutory and voluntary) coming together to support a range of needs.

Next Meeting:The next meeting for the South East LOOP network will take place:

ON: Wed, 27th May 2015 – 2:00 – 4:00AT: The White House Kitchen, 70 Niddrie Mains Road, EH16 4BG

For that meeting we have a number of speakers discussing mapping, transportation, streets and resilience:

Isabel Cayon: City of Edinburgh Council, GIS Mapping Jacqui Pentland: Queen Margaret University, Making it CLEAR Frank Henderson/Andrena Mathieson: City of Edinburgh Council, Community and Accessible Transport Review Penny Morriss: Living Streets.

Edinburgh Voluntary Organisations’ Council is a company limited by guarantee No. 173382 and is a registered Scottish charity No. 009944. Registered Office: 14 Ashley Place, Edinburgh, EH6 5PX