DementiaGo
EMMA QUAECK:
Co-ordinator of the Exercise Referral Scheme / DementiaGo Project Manager
[00:00:16] The Healthy Communities Department of Gwynedd Council has received an Intermediate Care grant from the Welsh Government and this grant, this money is to ensure that people, as they get older, can stay independently in the community for as long as they can and that they live well in their communities for as long as possible.
[00:00:38] This also, hopefully, going to reduce the need for health and social care intervention.
[00:00:51] So how are we, as the Leisure Department, going to play our part in this?
[00:00:55] The name of the class is DementiaGo.
[00:00:51] What we decided to do was to create classes in the Leisure Centres for people living with dementia, and also, very importantly, for carers and their family, so that they can do something in their communities, on their doorstep really, take part in activities.
[00:01:15] And now we have staff who are qualified and have had a little bit of experience and training in this field.
CLARE HARRIS:
[00:01:22] Do a little swim, stretch your arms.
EMMA QUAECK:
[00:01:27] They make sure the classes are full of fun but also that they do exercises that help maintain balance, strength, stamina.
CLARE HARRIS:
DementiaGo Physical Activities Champion
[00:01:38] I’ve had training to teach exercise, exercise classes, for older people.
[00:01:44] I’m also a dementia champion and I run sessions for people with dementia.
[00:01:48] Dementia affects people in lots of different ways and they are all different in themselves, and when exercising, we work hard but we have a lot of fun.
LADY 1:
[00:02:01] Very good, I enjoy myself very much here and look forward to coming here.
[00:02:07] I’d come here every day if I got the chance.
[00:02:10] I really am glad that I’m coming here.
[00:02:14] Especially when you’re on your own, it makes a huge amount of difference, doesn’t it.
[00:02:18] And I have to say, Wow, to think that we get transport all the way from Porthmadog, and back home, costing nothing, you won’t see, there’s fun to be had here, isn’t there?
MAN 1:
[00:02:30] We all take it nice and light-heartedly, seriously, if you know what I mean, and we enjoy it.
[00:02:40] It sharpened you up a bit, hasn’t it?
LADY 2:
[00:02:41] Sharpened me, yes.
[00:02:43] It’s brought me out of the doldrums a bit.
MAN 1:
[00:02:45] It loosens you up.
LADY 2:
[00:02:45] It loosens you up, yes.
MAN 1:
[00:02:46] Oh, yes, there’s no doubt about that. Because at the age we are, you quickly stiffen up. There’s a lot of sort of, can I say, community spirit about it.
[00:02:59] And Clare is absolutely fantastic
LADY 2:
[00:03:02] She is.
MAN 1:
[00:03:03]and so patient.
LADY 2:
[00:03:05] Because they do get some old people here.
MAN 1:
[00:03:09] She really encourages people, doesn’t she?
CLARE HARRIS:
[00:03:11] In the classes, there are carers who come with people who have dementia and it’s difficult for them all day at home looking after people with dementia.
[00:03:22] When they come to a class here, it’s like a little world to them too, to exercise and talk to people who are in the same boat as them, and this is a little bit of a break for them to come here and be able to laugh and just share things with other people.
[00:03:38] There might be a problem at home, and someone else has discovered how to work out a way around this, and, over a cuppa, we all have a chat regarding that and they support each other, like in a little community of their own, and they all support each other and it’s fantastic and it’s good for them to come here to exercise and keep fit too.
DAUGHTER:
[00:03:59] I think when Mum is here, at the time, she concentrates so much and tries to get everything right.
[00:04:06] That’s a good thing because it makes her think.
LADY 3:
[00:04:10] Oh, I like coming, like. I get out of the house, yes, and I see someone else for a change, you know.
[00:04:17] Yes, I like doing the exercises because I have a bad back so it helps that.
[00:04:23] Once a week isn’t enough for you, is it?
MAN 2:
[00:04:26] No.
LADY 3:
[00:04:27] No.
MAN 2:
[00:04:28] I would like to come here every day.
[00:04:31] You come here depressed and then when you go out you're depressed because you have to go from here.
[00:04:39] She’s here for you, she’s a great girl. I can’t say enough about her.
EMMA QUAECK:
[00:04:47] Keeping active, playing sport, doing exercises does us all good – physically and mentally and it is no different for people who have had a diagnosis of dementia.
MAN 3:
[00:05:02] You forget that you actually did play bowls on the local lawn in Dudley.
YR ALA CARER:
[00:05:14] And this gives you the opportunity to give it a go again, doesn’t it? It’s good, isn’t it?
MAN 3:
[00:05:17] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
YR ALA CARER:
[00:05:19] Eh? Yeah, it’s good isn’t it?
MAN 3:
[00:05:20] Yes.
YR ALA CARER:
[00:05:20] Yeah, it’s lovely.
MAN 3:
[00:05:22] It makes me feel young for the second time.
YR ALA CARER:
[00:05:24] I work in the Day Centre at Yr Ala here in Pwllheli and every Wednesday we come to the Leisure Centre to DementiaGo and they seem to be enjoying it very much.
LADY 4:
[00:05:37] I’m in 24 hours a day because of my hip, I’m not allowed out on my own.
[00:05:43] But if I’m out on my own I have a fall, I can’t depend on the neighbours. It does help me out a lot, the music, dancing away like a little trooper.
EMMA QUAECK:
[00:05:55] And people think when they get the diagnosis of dementia that they stop, that they can’t carry on, that they can’t do anything else.
[00:06:02] But I think that by joining classes, it shows that they can do things here, normal things, if you like, and have fun doing them.
CLARE HARRIS:
[00:06:14] When the class finishes and everybody goes out through that door, perhaps some will forget what they’ve done, perhaps they’ll forget who they’ve seen.
[00:06:24] But what stays with them is the feeling of happiness and well-being, and you can’t put a price on that.
End