The Dementia Bus Visits Bluebird Care Stafford!

Last week our care team attended an amazing virtual Dementia Bus training session to experience the difficulties of living with dementia, first hand.

The mobile dementia simulator also known as the ‘Dementia Bus’ gives a person with a healthy brain the chance to experience what dementia might be like by replicating different symptoms and challenges faced by someone with the condition. The medically-proven training method encourages people to understand what they can change in their care practices and settings to reduce frustration and improve the experiences of a person with dementia. 

Using specially developed equipment and a safe environment, our care team were placed in the world that people with dementia experience everyday.  They wore mittens in a thick material to impair their ability to perform tasks or hold items, wore headphones and glasses with altered lenses to impair their vision and to make them feel disorientated, and navigated dark rooms with coloured lights to add to the disorientation and overall frustration. They also wore spiked insoles in their shoes to cause a pins and needles sensation – a common symptom of dementia.

Registered Care Manager, Emily Jones said:

"The Dementia Bus was an invaluable experience whereby we were given the opportunity to walk in the shoes of a person with Dementia. It gave a clear understanding of the issues our customers with dementia deal with every day and to fully appreciate the daily challenges that they are faced with. By experiencing feelings of confusion, isolation, intimidation, and vulnerability first hand, gives us as care providers a greater understanding of how we can improve the way we support customers with Dementia."

Our care team also shared their views on the experience:

For more information on Dementia or if you would like to know about the care we can offer please visit our dementia page.