Bluebird Care’s virtual dementia experience helps carers empathise with dementia sufferers
18/10/2023
With dementia more prevalent than ever before, understanding more about the condition for those who care for patients is of growing importance.
With this in mind, Bluebird Care Stevenage & North Herts invited carers and family members of sufferers to embark on the Virtual Dementia Tour at their offices in Letchworth on Thursday, 5 October.
Training2Care’s Virtual Dementia Bus offers the opportunity for carers to be in the shoes of a dementia sufferer and experience just a few moments of what a dementia sufferer lives with. The aim is to help carers and family members empathise and care better for those suffering.
Carers and family members had the opportunity to simulate symptoms sufferers experience in a bid to increase the understanding and help them give empathetic care to dementia patients.
To try and recreate the reality of what dementia sufferers live with, participants are given spiky insoles to put in their shoes simulating extra sensitivity in the nerve endings in the feet.
They are also given thick gloves to wear in a bid to experience what it’s like to lose feeling in your hands, so completing simple tasks like filling a glass with water is almost impossible.
Those taking part are also wearing glasses that impair sight, shutting down peripheral vision with dark spots in the line of vision to emphasis sight difficulties sufferers with macular degeneration experience.
Wearing headphones that continually bombard your hearing with a cacophony of noise continuously help carers appreciate the importance of approaching a sufferer gently so as not to startle them.
Director of Bluebird Care Stevenage & North Herts, Robert Treschi said of the event: “Carers are always asking for more training to help them care for dementia sufferers, and the Virtual Tour gave them just that.
“A few minutes in the shoes of a dementia sufferer can only help our carers support and look after our dementia patients better. We also invited family members of sufferers to take part as they are also key in the care of their loved ones.”
Robert continued: “The event has been a big success, the carers have loved it and learned a lot. Our aim is to continually strive to take better care of people with dementia.”
The experience was an eye-opener for Bluebird Care Stevenage & North Herts carers with many agreeing it will be advantageous when caring for their patients with the condition.
Carer Wendy said of the event:
The Virtual Tour certainly gives you a real insight into the life of a dementia sufferer. The constant noise they hear really brought it home for me and how disorientated you feel, which helps me understand what our patients are dealing with on a daily basis.
Wendy
