Coventry charity stresses importance of dementia support
A Coventry charity has said support groups can make a huge difference to people's quality of life
A Coventry charity has stressed the importance of getting support for people living with dementia - once they are diagnosed.
Alzheimer's Society has said a third of people living with dementia have not yet been diagnosed, delaying the access to care.
Good Neighbours Coventry offers dementia support - Maddy Wigmore is from the charity and said: "They spend more time at home or don't feel they can just go out and wander round shops because they worry they might forget where they're going. They get more isolated, go out less and their confidence drops. Isolation has really negative health side-effects.
"If you're not yet diagnosed you don't know what's going on so you're questioning what's going on and why rather than focusing on the positive things you can do and the coping strategies."
Good Neighbours Coventry, part of Hope Coventry, run weekly sessions for people with dementia, helping them to come together and build friendships, also taking some of the pressure off their carers.
Maddy said "Even if the person doesn't remember the next day that they had a lovely day, their wellbeing is still much higher than it would have been, even if they can't remember that experience happened at all because their dementia has progressed that far.
"People can develop a pattern where they come to a group every week and they sit in the same place and with the same people and they can build up friendships as they do activities together, even if they don't build memories."