Dementia Care Best Practice - Young at Heart

For Dementia Action Week from 20-26 May this year, the Housing LIN has gathered examples of where extra care schemes or other housing related community services have supported people with dementia to develop meaningful relationships to prevent unwanted social isolation or reduce loneliness.

The examples range from informal arrangements supported by staff or other residents as well as more formal service provision.  Today’s example of best practice comes from Sheffield City Council.

Young at Heart

Here at Sheffield City Councils Older Persons Independent Living service we run our Young At Heart project across all of our 30 Sheltered Housing schemes.  The Young At Heart project aims to reduce loneliness and isolation, through a diverse range of activities designed at getting our tenants out of their flats, socialising with their neighbours and trying new activities.

We have worked in partnership with a number of organisations over the years which have included; Sheffield Hallam University, Heeley City Farm, Ignite Imaginations and local schools to name but a few.

Working with Heeley City Farm we have been able to fund a project called Farming Comes to You.  The farm visit schemes across Sheffield bringing with them a range of animals from guinea pigs and rabbits to chickens and goats.  These animal therapy sessions prove very popular with all of our tenants who benefit from interacting with the animals which often evoke memories from times gone by.

This year we will be continuing to bring animal therapy into schemes along with other projects which include: intergenerational work with schools – a local school have befriended a scheme and come to visit once a month and take part in various activities such as crafts, singing and dancing. Reminiscence sessions, art therapy sessions, Health and fitness sessions, dance sessions all which complement the many tenant led activities which happen within our schemes.

For further information you can contact Melissa Newbould, Young at Heart project Officer on melissa.newbould@sheffield.gov.uk

Note: The views expressed in this feature have been provided by the featured organisations and are not necessarily those of the Housing Learning and Improvement Network. 

If you have any examples from your own organisation that you would like to share please send details to Katey Twyford and Wendy Wells, Housing and Dementia co-leads for the Housing LIN, dementia@housinglin.org.uk.  We will be developing a compendium of best practice examples to go on the Housing LIN website.