Speaker Meeting - DISC

Tue, Jul 18th 2023 at 7:00 pm - 9:15 pm

Louise Stears-Smith and May Howes to attend to talk about their Dementia Care support service

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DISC Dementia Care Support

Recently Louise Stears-Smith and May Howes visited the club to tell them about DISC, the carer support group for the carers of Dementia sufferers. They started a few years ago with support groups from pre-diagnosis to post- bereavement. Pre- diagnosis as it can take up to a year of tests and investigation before a positive diagnosis of dementia is obtained. Carers can access as much or as little help as they want and it is all free of charge. It can be one to one, face to face, by telephone or on zoom. There are four levels of courses provided to give information and assist carers to make decisions. Sufferers helped have varied in age from 31 to 103 years old and there are currently 500 people on their books. Most clients come to them by word of mouth recommendation rather than referral.

There are over 400 different types of dementia and it is likely to be many years before effective treatment becomes widely available. Because the brain governs all the body functions the symptoms of dementia can be very variable and easy to confuse with other ailments. Cognitive stimulation is important to limit the disease which meant that many cases deteriorated during the Covid lockdowns. Also, there is quite a lot of misinformation and confusion about the help carers are entitled to and DISC advises and helps in this aspect which can alleviate a lot of worries.

Funding of DISC is partly from the National Lottery but office expenses are not wholly met by this and fund raising in the community is vital to help with their work. The club were very moved by the presentation as was evidenced by the lively question session afterwards which included several members relating their own experiences about friends and relatives with this condition.

It is estimated that one in three of us will suffer from dementia, mainly in older age. Bexhill also has one of the highest age populations in the country and this is one of the reasons that the this and fund raising in the community is vital to help with their work. The club were very moved by the presentation as was evidenced by the lively question session afterwards which included several members relating their own experiences about friends and relatives with this condition.