To discuss how the Health and Wellbeing Board can broaden and lengthen the whole community approach to dementia.

As part of its agreed approach, the Board gave consideration to one of its priorities within the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy, namely Priority 15: Improve Care for People living with Dementia and their Carers.  Representatives from the Clinical Commissioning Group, Devon Partnership NHS Trust and Torbay Southern Devon Health and Care NHS Trust gave details of the work that was currently underway in Torbay in relation to this Priority together with that which was planned.

Members of the Board then discussed how the Health and Wellbeing Board could “broaden and lengthen” the whole-community approach to dementia.  In particular, members were asked to pay particular attention to whether the actions within the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy were the right ones, what needed to change locally to meet the outcomes required by the Board, and what could the Board do to promote integrated working to support this priority.

In addition to the representatives of the NHS organisations listed above, a representative of the Alzheimer’s Society also contributed to the discussion.  Members of the Board had been asked prior to the meeting to consider how their organisation was helping to create a dementia friendly society in Torbay together with any feedback received from clients, patients or the general public about how those living with dementia and their carers are treated within the wider community.

The current diagnosis gap in Torbay is 47% with an ambition of reaching 55% by 2014.  This gap in diagnosis is not unusual for population makeup of the area and is typical of other seaside resorts.  The performance within Torbay could be tested out through comparison with other local authority areas and across GP practices.

Whilst age is the biggest risk factor associated with dementia, there is more that can be done around prevention with some of the contributory factors also being the same contributory factors to heart disease and stroke.  Future public health campaigns should highlight dementia alongside the healthy living message.

Training would continue within community settings such as care homes and domiciliary services, as well as in the wider primary care environment (including practice nurses, community nurses, pharmacists and receptionists – all of whom may be seeing patients on a more regular basis than doctors and may therefore be more able to identify changes in behaviour).

Ensuring that people can live well with dementia would help to address the stigma associated with the condition as well as helping to allay the fears of seeking a diagnosis.  Raising awareness of dementia within the wider community would increase the number of people who are aware of symptoms and associated changes in behaviour in order that concerns could be raised and referrals made.

In terms of raising awareness, it was noted that there were a series of opportunities throughout the year (including the inaugural meeting of Healthwatch Torbay, the Devon Interfaith Festival and the Peninsula Public Health Network) which could be used to promote healthy lifestyles and preventable diseases.  The increased use of social media would also be explored.

For Torbay to be a truly dementia friendly community, consideration would need to be given to what the area would look like in, say, 10 years time and whether, as a resort, Torbay would be able to promote itself as a dementia friendly area.  There was likely to be work to be done around the physical and environmental attributes of the area as well as the behaviours, values and attitudes of the community as a whole.  It was suggested that there was a role for Healthwatch Torbay in testing out the current levels of dementia-friendliness within Torbay.

Consideration was also given to the Dementia Friendly Schools Programme which was being run in Plymouth and whether this could be implemented within the schools in Torbay.