PRESENT explores the ways in which people living with dementia can be a pillar of support to other people in their family, their personal network and their local community through co-production.
Co-production is a different way of working where professionals and citizens make better use of each other’s assets, resources and contributions to achieve better outcomes or improved efficiency. People living with dementia can be excluded from such approaches due to assumptions about who they are and what they can do. PRESENT set out to challenges these views.
Dementia is a complex condition that impacts on the lives of an increasing number of people in Scotland. East Dunbartonshire is the Scottish local authority area with the highest proportion of older people. There are approximately 2,086 people living with dementia in East Dunbartonshire in 2015.
We have been developing our co-production approach since 2013. So far, some of our achievements include:
a community walking group
an audit of how memory-friendly our communities are
a dementia and citizen pack for schools
a range of intergenerational opportunities for learning and fun such as care home community cafes
a care home and community music network
discussed universal wifi access in all of our local care homes
and we are just about to launch a Dementia Network website.
This website will also host co-production information so that people can easily find information about getting involved in co-producing dementia friendly East Dunbartonshire.This work is consolidated through the creation and adoption of a co-production charter. The experience of the co-production process has highlighted the importance of working with people in their own time, the important role of community connectors and the simple fact that co-production is a creative process that consistently promotes innovative solutions to the daily issues that people with dementia, carers and support services face.
We will be publishing a report on the project process, outcomes and experiences before the end of January 2016.
For more information please see our case study http://www.coproductionscotland.org.uk/resources/resource-case-studies/how-present-improves-the-wellbeing-of-people-living-with-dementia-in-east-dunbartonshir