Five-year plan commits to Sheffield being a proud dementia-friendly city

Sheffield's skyline

Sheffield has a new citywide dementia plan to provide people with dementia and their families with the right support and care.

The Council, key partners across the city, people living with dementia and their families have all worked together to inform the plan, which aims for Sheffield to become a proud dementia-friendly city.

It will be discussed next week by members of the Adult Health and Social Care Policy Committee who will be asked to approve the plan, which will run from 2025-2030.

Councillor Angela Argenzio, Chair of Adult Health and Social Care Policy Committee at Sheffield City Council, said: “Our vision is to make sure people with dementia are supported by being in the right environment, with the right support around them. At committee today, the Council and its key partner organisations signed up to a five-year plan, designed as a result of research and conversations with providers and people and families with lived experience of dementia. It focuses on what they have said is important to them.

Nine commitments make up the plan:

• Sheffield will become a Dementia friendly city
• More will be done to prevent, reduce, and delay, the risk of developing dementia
• Improved access to dementia diagnosis at the earliest possible stage for the people of Sheffield.
• Support will be personalised, local and accessible, to help people with dementia to remain independent for as long as possible
• High quality support to families and carers of people living with dementia in Sheffield will be provided
• People living with dementia and their carers will receive care and support that recognises and works with them as individuals
• Families and staff will be supported to plan ahead to reduce the likelihood of dementia related crisis
• Improved care for people with dementia attending hospital
• Personalised, good quality palliative and end of life care when needed

Councillor Angela Argenzio added: “We’re driving this work forward with the NHS South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, all of our partners from both the statutory, voluntary sector and working with communities because we need to be better at supporting the diverse needs of this group of people.

“In Sheffield, we know that our success will be because we have adopted a multi-agency approach in supporting people across the city. It’s the working together that will be key. Supporting people with dementia and their families and those who work with dementia effectively will only be possible by having a focus on doing the things that we know have been agreed as a result of what people living with dementia have told us is important. Working in partnership is key to us all making progress together.

“One of the biggest highlights from the results showed how difficult lives can become for those living with dementia if there isn’t consistency. Consistency makes a world of difference. Our job is to make sure they are fully supported, and we want to achieve this through these commitments.”

Grace Stead from ‘Enrichment for the Elderly’ delivers Dementia Stars training in the city funded by Sheffield City Council through Dementia Advice Sheffield. This training helps professionals and volunteers understand dementia better and the training is designed to meet the diverse needs of Sheffield’s communities.

Grace said: “When supporting my nan with dementia people just didn't understand how best to support her. The negative impact on her, me and those around her was huge. These dementia commitments will help us to put people with dementia at the centre of what we do, working together to support the person with dementia and the people around them with better understanding at the heart of it.” 

People in the city who have done Dementia Stars training speak highly of the difference it has made to them: 

"I wish I would have had this training years ago; it would have helped me support my mum better who had dementia, but it will now support my practice."

"This has been the best learning experience I have ever had! Inspiring, it makes you want to make a difference to people's lives.”

More information about dementia training is available here: https://www.ageuk.org.uk/sheffield/our-services/dementia-services-professionals/das-training/

It’s estimated that there are over 6,000 and up to around 7,300 people aged over 65 currently living with dementia in Sheffield, which is between 6.7% and 7.7% of the 94,840 people aged 65 years and over in the city. Approximately 140 people under 65 in Sheffield live with young onset dementia. Dementia support and awareness in Sheffield has increased over the last 5 years, however, the growing impact of an aging population on dementia prevalence means the number of people living with dementia is predicted to keep increasing.

The Council is committed to helping to prevent and reduce the risk of developing dementia right across a person’s life through the many programmes for which it holds responsibility to deliver. There are ways that some types of dementia can be prevented, or the risk of dementia reduced. Dementia risk includes factors starting at early years and education; and includes environmental factors such as exposure to air pollution. 

Some risk factors that can be changed to reduce the risk of dementia are similar to those recommended to people to keep their heart and circulation healthy such as increasing physical activity, reducing alcohol consumption, and reducing smoking. Social contact is really important for everyone, and this is the case for people at risk of developing dementia or who already have dementia. Research has also found that using aids for hearing and visual problems can also reduce the risk.

Sheffield Dementia Action Alliance (SDAA) is a network of organisations who want to help communities, organisations and businesses do more for people affected by dementia: reducing stigma, increasing understanding, and making small but significant changes to buildings and environments to make them more accessible for people with dementia. Over the past 5 years SDAA has recruited and supported over 80 members who have made over 200 pledges to make their organisations more dementia friendly. This has included community centres, train operators, places of worship, theatres, libraries, charity shops and pubs.

Work on the strategy and what it aims to achieve will be formally launched on the morning of Wednesday 27^th November at an event for people with dementia and their families, providers, and partners. Taking place at Niagara Conference and Leisure Centre, Niagara Road, Sheffield, S6 1LU, resources, advice, information and more on the city’s dementia plan will be available.

There are limited spaces so early booking is advised at Dementia Strategy Launch Event Tickets, Wed, Nov 27, 2024 at 9:30 AM | Eventbrite

The new citywide Dementia Strategy 2025- 20230is here and there is a range of resources and information on www.sheffielddirectory.org.uk

More information about risk and prevention is here: Dementia prevention, intervention, and care: 2024 report of the Lancet standing Commission - The Lancet