Access to a safe and trusted Digital Hub in Brent for people living with dementia and their loved ones
Ashford Place and Community Action on Dementia Brent
I’m finally writing this… I’ve never written a blog, so better late than never I suppose :-)
Let me introduce a very lovely place where I work called Ashford Place (AP) a community centre based in Cricklewood, North West London that runs a variety of projects promoting social inclusion, wellbeing and community action. Have a closer look https://www.ashfordplace.org.uk/
I believe quality human connections and creating an even playing field are the core values at Ashford Place
Since 2015, CAD-Brent (Community Action on Dementia Brent) a community group of volunteers working with residents, businesses, faith communities, sports organisations, statutory services and people living with dementia came together to create a dementia friendly borough.
Ashford Place, in partnership with Brent wide Dementia Café’s and its Dementia Voices & Peer Support projects, has been supporting people living with dementia to gain the skills, knowledge and confidence to lead the way in changing the narrative around dementia and to help co-design service provisions in the community.
New to researching digital solutions, in October 2020 we went through the Discovery programme with our then digital partner “Reply” (Mille, Nissa and Bex) …we knew it was about collaboration and getting the right information and opportunities, to the right people from the right sources, however, we soon realised we needed further support to narrow down our user needs research and to help define a clearer challenge
We were delighted with the opportunity to join the Definition programme to progress our Discovery towards a tangible solution…
Right from the outset we knew what was in store…
3 weeks in and Al, Ben, Jon (our digital mentors from Panda) have expertly guided our content design cohort into some pretty clever prototypes
So what exactly are we trying to solve…
The Challenge
People living with dementia are struggling to access face to face support due to health reasons, location or Covid-19 restrictions
Now there is an increased provision of digital information, advice, support and social opportunities which can benefit this community
However, these resources and offers are not coordinated across Brent between the network of charities providing support to this group
Without access to these resources people are left isolated and there is a low uptake of valuable support
Our Users Needs
“As a person living with dementia struggling to access support due to mobility, location or Covid-19 restrictions…
I need to find trusted support options that are available to me…
So that I can talk to my peers, take part in social activities, attend support groups and speak to a specialist advisor when I need to”
“As a carer/loved one of someone living with dementia struggling to access support due to mobility, location or Covid-19 restrictions…
I need to find trusted support options that are available for the person I care for…
So that I can support the person I care for, to benefit from the support network available to them”
How might we…
the opportunity and idea we are pursuing
Facilitate an inventory of local referable/bookable services from our partners that is made accessible and available on the CAD Brent website
So what are the next steps…
If you like my blog / article give me some encouragement and I might write some more… otherwise, I understand and quite frankly, I’ll just have to rethink my writing strategy :-)
