All staff at Encore Care Homes to become Dementia Friends

Every member of the team at Encore Care Homes will undergo training to become a Dementia Friend.

New and existing staff members from all departments, including care, catering, housekeeping and administration, will join the Alzheimer’s Society’s Dementia Friends programme, which aims to transform the way that people think, act and talk about the condition.

The training is being introduced across Encore’s four care homes in Dorset and Hampshire, and will see staff members learn more about dementia, as well as how to support and communicate effectively with residents who have the condition.

Lindsay Rees, director of health and care at Encore Care Homes, said: “I have been a Dementia Friend for a number of years and believe the initiative is a really simple way to engage people with the valuable and important concept that it is possible to live well with dementia.

“The initiative is fully in alignment with our mission to put the residents’ needs and wishes at the heart of what we do, which is why we have committed to embed it in the foundations of the dedicated dementia care that we offer at Encore Care Homes.”