Working together to improve dementia services in Wiltshire

Healthwatch Wiltshire reports on dementia care were used to support a bid to secure national funding for training for care managers. The training was provided to 111 care managers and senior staff members from 71 different care providers. This report highlights the impact of the training at two specialist dementia care homes. The key changes observed included more user-friendly care plans and dementia-friendly environment, better suited meal time routines, increased staff knowledge leading to greater understanding and confidence, increased use of positive language and increase in sharing of information about residents’ lives. Changes were also brought to introduce new community groups with greater variety in Wiltshire. The groups were provided in villages to cover rural areas. This led to improvements in mental and physical wellbeing, more independence and more involvement of people with dementia with their local communities and being able to access support and information at the groups.