BLUEBIRD CARE NEWFOREST celebrates the end of Dementia Action Awareness week with a Tea dance in the community on Saturday 18 May .

Bluebird Care recognises the importance of raising awareness of dementia in the community. Nowadays people living with this condition are not solely older people, but recently we have seen high-profile cases like sportspeople who suffer from a younger age. The theme of this year’s national awareness campaign is diagnosis. Memory loss is often correlated with ageing and therefore people do not seek advice or guidance. It can cause undue stress to the partners and/or their families if it is not diagnosed properly. The Dementia Action Week runs from 13 – 19 May and it is an opportunity for individuals and organisations to encourage people to “act on Dementia”. During this time, a lot of events get organised for people to attend to get more information about how to spot the potential symptoms, how to interact with people living with dementia, where to go when a diagnosis has been established and how to get support from health care professionals. People need to understand that you can stay long in the comfort of your own home, even though you have the condition. Often with daily support from home care providers like Bluebird Care, people do not immediately need to go into residential care. Bluebird Care has used the opportunity to work together with the charitable groups such as Dementia Support Hampshire & IOW and Memoryworks to get people to join support groups for emotional support and signposting.

This year Bluebird Care will sponsor the Tea Dance in the St Magdalene Church in New Milton on Saturday 18 May from 2-4pm. It is a free event .With the help of our own staff and various volunteers we hope to make it a memorable afternoon. We invite people who are carers for their beloved who is living with dementia to join us. There will be live music , a Raffle in aid of Dementia Support Hampshire & IOW and lots of fun. If interested to help with serving teas and drinks, please contact us as well.