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New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services (NZCCSS),
A real depth of compassion and aroha is needed in our society if we are to meet the future needs of families and whānau living with dementia/mate wareware.
This is the key message of a new NZCCSS report on future services for dementia.
Just and compassionate responses to the increasing number of people living with dementia will require changes to existing structures and services to recognise their particular needs.
The report - Working Together We Can Respond to Dementia: future directions for services - underlines the vital role of spirituality and a relational understanding of care and support in dementia care. Kaumātua spiritual support and chaplaincy are recommended as essential ingredients for core services. Other recommendations include taking a community development approach to service development that could include models of intergenerational housing.
In the future an increased range of culturally-specific services for Māori as well as Pacific and Asian communities will be needed, as well as increasing the amount of high level residential care generally. Dementia specific home support and a range of quality respite services will be needed.
The report notes the lack of supported housing options for people with dementia and recommends that successful models from other countries be tried here (e.g. Swedish village cooperative model). Study participants reported a lack of knowledge and understanding about dementia both in the wider health services and general public.
A public education campaign to inform people about, and to de-stigmatise dementia is one proposal of the report. This could be included as part of an overarching dementia strategy as proposed by Alzheimers New Zealand. Such a strategy could also address the urgent need to coordinate dementia services across government and non-government agencies.
From community level through to national social policy and political levels, the message is that “together we can” meet those needs – when we understand, collaborate and communicate to best use all our available resources.
The study involved interviews with a range of service provider organisations, an overview of key literature and visits to social service programmes. Researchers spoke with people with dementia, their families and whānau as well as those providing care and support through day programmes, home support and residential care.
To read the full report visit: http://www.nzccss.org.nz/site/page.php?page_id=122