The Adopt a Care Home scheme was featured on Channel 4 News
just before Christmas.
The Adopt a Care Home scheme links care
homes with local schools. The Adopt a Care Home scheme was set up to
enable people with dementia to become more involved in their local community,
to feel better about themselves and to teach children about dementia. Laura Di Bona and Sheila Kennedy from the University of Sheffield carried out an evaluation of the pilot
of the Adopt a Care Home scheme. One care home and one school took part in
the pilot and its evaluation. Forty-one children aged nine or ten were taught
about dementia in school. Sixteen of them went on visits to their local care
home to meet people with dementia. The children and people with dementia made
“Lifestory” booklets together, in which they shared information about
themselves and their lives.
The findings of the evaluation suggested the Adopt a Care Home scheme increased dementia awareness in
children. The children knew very little
about dementia at the beginning but knew more by the end of the scheme. The
findings also suggested that participating in the Adopt a Care Home scheme was enjoyable for many of the people with
dementia . None were upset by the experience. The school and care home felt the
scheme went well and are carrying on with it.
Channel
4 news presenter Christine Oldfield interviewed Laura Di Bona about her
evaluation and collaborators from Sheffield City Council, Sheffield Health and
Social Care NHS Trust and Prince Edward Primary School about the scheme. The
Channel 4 news feature showcased the scheme in action with children talking to
people with dementia in a care home and then discussing their learning about
dementia back in the classroom.
Anyone
interested in finding out more about the scheme, its evaluation and future
plans should contact Laura Di Bona: l.dibona@sheffield.ac.uk
For further
information about the Adopt a Care Home scheme and to read a copy of the Adopt
a Care Home evaluation report please visit this link.
To view the Channel 4 News feature please
go to the channel 4 news link here. Alternatively you can visit YouTube.
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