Here, you can read all about our efforts to raise awareness about Dementia across Plymouth & the South Hams.

May 2025 Dementia Action week with the Dementia Virtual tour

During Dementia Action week Bluebird Care have organised for the Virtual Dementia Tour to visit Torbay, Totnes and Plymouth. The “Dementia tour” is a simulator that gives a person with a healthy brain the chance to experience what dementia can be like by replicating different symptoms and challenges faced by someone with the condition.

By offering this free simulation we want as many people to experience and begin to understand what it is to live with this complex syndrome. We ran this tour locally last year and were delighted so many people came along and hope by repeating the tour even more people living in our communities can gain further understanding of what living with dementia is really like. It is so important to collectively support people who have been diagnosed with dementia and their carers. As with most things, it takes a village.

Please please do call us to book your place or several places whilst the virtual tour is visiting us.

Sessions take less than 15 minutes, locations and dates below:

• Plymouth, May 20th 2025 - Sainsbury’s car park, Marshmills, PL3 6RL
  Call 01752 347700 for more info
• Torbay, May 21st 2025 - The Willows, TQ2 7HT (by DFS)
  Call 01803 215999 for more info
• Totnes, May 22nd 2025 - Morrisons car park, Totnes, TQ9 5GN
  Call 01803 215999 for more info
  
  

Spring 2025 Bluebird care Plymouth/ Torbay enhanced dementia care

According to the Alzheimer’s society 85% of people diagnosed with dementia want to stay living in their own home for as long as possible. It is statistics like these alongside the vast numbers of people each year being diagnosed with this syndrome that focussed our attention on our dementia care offering. We have always had a dementia focus, as have most in this sector but potentially not to the extent it needs to be to really support carers and those with a diagnosis of dementia to be fully supported at home and to live well. Bluebird Care Plym/Torb have spent the last 6 months working alongside the Alzheimer’s society and Derby University to learn and create an enhanced learning module for all of our care experts.

With our focussed training around dementia we will guide our care experts through a customers care needs, helping them to understand what changes need to happen to enable that customer to continue to enjoy their life feeling safe, supported, understood and help them to maintain a fulfilling social life. When cognitive decline begins people often lose confidence and immerse themselves less frequently in their local community. Our goal is to not only perform tasks that keep someone safe and independent in their home but that our involvement in a person’s care can enable that person to maintain their social interaction in their community, to help them to live well.

We are here for those directly in need of care and for those that are supporting them. An often overlooked area of support is for the informal carer and the importance of having some breaks, for them to be able to switch off even for a few hours. With peace of mind that we really know you or your loved one and are always there day or night when you need us you can have some much needed time off.

March 2025 Memory Matters Learning with Lunch

A selection of carers opted to attend a presentation in the Memory Matters Café in Plymouth being presented by Kate the founder and CEO of Memory Matters. It was amazing to hear of how she founded the company and all that she does to better the lives of people with dementia. Kate puts the people at the forefront of the subject. It was in fact customers with dementia that designed the café and are welcomed at all stages of dementia. Kate ensures all of her staff are fully trained in dementia from the till to the kitchen and they provide food that is known to a person living with dementia including any additional intricacies such as cutlery or consistency of food.

The Memory Matters Café in town is actually an advice centre that allows anyone with or without dementia to go and ask questions about it and be able to talk to someone that’s not a professional doctor or nurse. We learned that they do many talks and other meetings where people can drop in and speak to a solicitor for free and ask questions they need to. They also go to other centres and are trained to do cognitive stimulation therapy (CST). They do lots of different therapeutic approaches with dementia. In return the carers had oodles of questions for Kate and said they found the day hugely useful for there current customers and love that they have an additional place that is actually “Dementia friendly” to take them on outings.

https://www.memorymatters.org.uk/

Dementia Bus 2024

Click here to read the full article.