Dementia UK provides specialist dementia support for families through our Admiral Nurse service. One such service is The Admiral Nurse Dementia Helpline which is for anyone with a question or concern about dementia. From looking out for the first symptoms of Alzheimer’s, to understanding the challenges of living with someone with vascular dementia, our specialist Admiral Nurses have the knowledge and experience to understand the situation and suggest answers that might be hard to find elsewhere.
Admiral Nurses staff the Helpline 9am–9pm Monday to Friday and 9am-5pm Saturday and Sunday. They not only provide information, practical advice and help in identifying options, they also listen therapeutically, provide expert emotional support, re-assurance and empathy. They offer practical and psychological management strategies and guidance on the perspective of the person with dementia.
What sets Dementia UK’s Helpline apart, is the level of complexity of the problems that an Admiral Nurse can help with. Dementia affects each individual differently and its effects are often complex, especially when a person also has another condition. Admiral Nurses have the knowledge and experience to support anyone contacting them, no matter how complex the situation.
Last year we supported 13,655 people. The majority were family carers often in a time of crisis – frustrated, distressed, exhausted and not knowing how to cope and where to go for help. With the Pixel Fund’s support, we aim to increase the number of Admiral Nurses working at any one time so that we can offer expert help to over 16,000 carers in 2018/19.
We anticipate from evidence of previous evaluations that family carers, as a result of calling, will be better informed and understand what choices are available, have reduced levels of distress and anxiety and feel less isolated and alone in coping with their caring role. They will feel re-assured that they can call back at any time and speak to someone who will understand their situation and give them the confidence they need to negotiate the next step of the dementia journey. In turn, this will improve the quality of life for the person with dementia and the whole family.
On behalf of Dementia UK