SUPPORTING INNOVATION

We like the recent news on supporting innovation in dementia field in the recent article by Brunswicks LLP, Volume 10 Issue 27, 08 July 2015.

We agree with statement by Jos de Blok who summed up beautifully the ethos we work towards at Beritaz Care:

“It’s very critical that you do the right things at the right moment and support patients in their self-confidence, in a way that they feel they can do more than they thought they could do”.

02 July 2015 – Dementia Services Development Centre

Innovation in community health and care delivery has been in the news this recently as the founder of Buurtzorg, a Dutch not-for-profit company, visited the UK. He was sharing the experience of a different way of providing health and care services to people living in their own homes in the Netherlands. A team of nurses in a particular neighbourhood visit people who are in need of health and care support.

The teams run themselves and can spend as long as they need to with clients. Clients are not rushed and have consistency. They do not have several different people coming to see them to do several different tasks. They report that there is high satisfaction with the service and that it is cost effective . There is also a weekly radio show run by the nurses. This is rather different to the standard model of health and care delivery in the UK.

DSDC is keen to support innovation and the sharing of ideas about practical ways of making a real difference to people with dementia. We believe in evidence and it is important to build on this. The Festival of Ideas is one way in which we are promoting and supporting innovation. You can find out more here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22450482