Our Lead Occupational Therapist On Dementia Support at Longfield

Accessing support from Longfield is easier than you think 

We accept self-referrals, or referrals made by loved ones, and we also receive referrals from healthcare professionals, including our local NHS dementia team. 

There’s no one-size fits all approach to supporting people living with dementia 

I take a personalised and holistic approach of getting to know people. What’s important to them? What gives them quality of life? Then I can recommend one of our wellbeing groups that will give them that independence or quality of life they might be missing. 

We help people connect with long term memories by engaging in familiar activities  

We have Mindsong – a group that allows people to draw on their memories and reconnect with singing. A lot of songs are stored away in people’s long-term memory, so it comes flooding back.  

Some people miss having a role and identity since their diagnosis. For example, if they have always been the cook in the family but can no longer cook independently. Or if they’ve been green-fingered but now they struggle with gardening. Our baking and nature groups are a gentle and supportive way of bringing back those long-term memories by helping people engage in a familiar activity.  

We stay open in our approach, it’s about finding the right spark  

If someone tries a group or activity and it’s not for them, that’s ok.  We try different things. We want to find something that brings a spark – and that’s going to be different for everyone.  

We collaborate with other professionals to get the best support for each individual 

We’ve got a gentleman with a dementia diagnosis who is accessing counselling with us. He’s experienced past trauma in his life. I spoke to his dementia nurse and she felt it would be beneficial for him to have face to face counselling. The experience is going positively, so we’re seeing how that progresses.  

People with dementia can feel isolated and alone. We want to break that isolation. 

A diagnosis like dementia can leave people feeling alone, particularly when their insight starts to decline. That makes it even harder to work out where to go and who to turn to. Longfield can point people in the right direction. In Gloucestershire, we’re lucky to have the Managing Memory Together service. We’ve also got a community dementia education team – support is out there.