Dementia Friends
From Left:
Sue Gillett, Naomi Highton, Rita Baugh, Christina Polychronakis, Michelle Gavin, Keri Wood, Lisa Moseley and Charlotte Macalister are all Dementia Friends
Solicitors Become Dementia Friends
Leading Coventry and Warwickshire law firm Band Hatton Button LLP are supporting one of the Alzheimer's Society biggest ever initiatives, 'Dementia Friends', by encouraging members of its Wills, Trusts and Probate Team to become 'Friends'.
The team have all attended face-to-face training sessions to help them understand what it is like for people to live with Dementia and the ways they could help someone who has been diagnosed with the disease.
According to the Alzheimer's Society, around 850,000 people in the UK are currently living with some form of Dementia which is caused by a number of diseases that affect the brain. The most common is Alzheimer's. This is not an older person's disease and young people can be affected too.
The symptoms can include memory loss and difficulties with thinking, problem-solving or language. Becoming a Dementia Friend has enabled the Wills, Trusts and Probate Team at Band Hatton Button to understand how Dementia can affect someone and has made them more aware of the disease.
People living with Dementia can feel lonely and excluded and making people aware of the disease will help them understand what it is like for that person that has been diagnosed and how they feel. People with Dementia can feel frustrated and sad and with a greater understanding of the disease, you can help that person feel more comfortable and secure.
Michelle Gavin, Head of the Wills, Trusts and Probate team at Band Hatton Button, believes the training was critically important for her department and one the most important aspects of the training is to ensure that you make someone living with dementia feel included in conversations and understood.
Michelle said: "We are involved in helping people make important decisions about their wealth and estates on a day-to-day basis, so this training, which we found hugely insightful, will be invaluable to us.
"More and more people are becoming affected by dementia, so we decided to find out more about what we can do in our day jobs and personal time to make a difference to those affected.
"As a team we cover all aspects of estate planning with Court of Protection work and Lasting Powers of Attorney being particularly of interest when people's mental capacity is a concern or people are planning for the future.
"The whole Wills, Trusts and Probate Team, solicitors and secretaries, have become Dementia Friends, and our Reception Team will also become Dementia Friends in the near future too.
"Our team is committed to turning this understanding of Dementia into action by spreading the word about Dementia Friends, and encouraging people to think about what would happen if they were diagnosed with Dementia."