University positions Northampton ahead of the curve in dementia awareness and preparedness

It’s the Alzheimer’s Society’s ‘Dementia Action’ week this week, in which the charity encourages people to choose an ‘action’ to show their commitment to helping people who have dementia.

The University of Northampton has been busy over the past year with a number of solo and partnership projects to help make the town and wider county more aware of the needs of people with dementia:

• The University outlined our plans to help make Northamptonshire more ‘dementia friendly’ at our 2017 conference
• The University hosted its second, annual Memory Day whereby partner organisations updated local people on their progress in making the town more ‘dementia friendly’
• The University launched its first award for local businesses to win the free services of a University intern to help make them more dementia friendly
• A new dementia centre town was opened earlier this year, co-run by University of Northampton, that supports not only people with a diagnosis of dementia but, crucially, their carers and at the same time
• The University is backing a local couple who have put their home into a Win a House competition. Part of the money raised will help the University’s dementia centre
• Professor Jackie Parkes blogs about how centres such as UnityDEM are needed, in light of a report about how people with the condition are being failed by the NHS and councils.