The Dementia Bus – Cork County

Description

In 2024 the Cork County Age Friendly programme partnered with the Tipperary programme to bring the Dementia Bus to the West region. By partnering together, it was possible to share the costs associated with bringing the training to Ireland as this training is UK based. Limerick, Clare and Galway also took part in this initiative. Cork County was the first location for the training simulator to visit and feedback from the event was overwhelmingly positive.

The Virtual Dementia Tour is provided via a mobile dementia simulator, the Dementia Bus. It is a
scientifically and medically proven method of giving a person with a healthy brain an experience of what dementia might be like, allows delegates to enter the world of the person and understand which simple changes need to be made to their practice and environment to really improve lives of people with dementia. This awareness raising experience looks at Dementia from the persons point of view and gives participants a new perspective on living with Dementia.
With 1 in 3 people expected to die of dementia related diseases and an aging population engagement with this awareness event provides the opportunity for participants to change and improve the lives of people with dementia.

The awareness event was made up of two parts, firstly participants boarded the Dementia Bus to experience what it would be like to live with Dementia and secondly, a debrief session facilitated a group conversation around the experience itself. It also made sense of the experience. The expertise of the facilitator was key in this aspect as his engagement with the group throughout the whole process really brought the experience to life.

The Dementia Bus gives a person with a healthy brain a virtual reality experience of what it would be like to live with Dementia. A variety of staff and outside stakeholders attended the October awareness event. These included, Councillors, planners, public realm staff, TCF staff, customer facing staff, as well as HSE community workers and An Garda Siochana. Alzheimer’s Ireland and The Irish Hospice Foundation also engaged with the event. In 2024, the event was run on an appointment basis to minimise the time that staff were away from their desks and allowed for a waiting list to be maintained.

The Cork County Age Friendly Strategy 2024-2028 actions which relate to Dementia, includes action 4.3 which is Cork County Council will provide Dementia Friendly Training to staff. The National Dementia Strategy also recognises training as a priority action.

Aim of Initiative

Virtual reality as a form of simulation training provides a vehicle for increasing understanding and empathy of living with Dementia by immersion into the world of the person with Dementia.
The initiative aimed to target key staff and stakeholders who would benefit from this awareness and were in positions to effect change within their organisations to improve both service delivery and the environment for people living with Dementia.

This initiative aimed to give people with a healthy brain an understanding of what it is like to live with and experience Dementia and in doing so gave key participants a real life understanding of how their decisions and interactions feed into how a person with Dementia experiences and lives in the world.
The initiative also aimed to encourage those in key positions and front-line staff to consider how small changes can make a big difference to all when dealing with someone living with Dementia. There was also the opportunity to distribute best practice manuals, namely Being Age Friendly in the Public Realm and the Dementia Inclusive Community Guide From a Universal Design Approach, amongst others. This allowed for the dissemination of useful documents to key workers in a high-volume setting.

Who is it aimed at

This project is aimed at people with a healthy brain who would like to experience what it is like to live with Dementia. It is primarily aimed at Nursing Home staff, however the benefits of extending this to the public service is immense as was demonstrated by this project.
Cork County Council aimed this initiative primarily at staff, Councilors, Age Friendly Alliance members, particularly the Gardai and other Older People stakeholders.

3 Steps critical to success

1. Early engagement with stakeholders to allow for selection of and release of relevant staff for training.
   By engaging with internal and external stakeholders at an early stage it allowed for key participants within each Directorate and outside agency and stakeholder groups to be identified and released to attend the awareness event.
2. Effective management of an appointment system to reduce staff time away from their desks.
   The utilization of an appointment system allowed the management of attendance and reduced the time that staff needed to be away from their desks. It also allowed managers plan the release of their staff without affecting service delivery. The appointment system ensured that if one person could not attend, their slot could be assigned to someone else.
3. Buy in from participants so that they did not let others know what to expect and thus take from the experience.
   This awareness event relies on participants not being aware of the process involved. It was important that the first attendees did not ‘let the cat out of the bag’ as the next group would not then get the full benefit of the event.

3 Challenges in Planning / Delivery

1. Ensuring that the correct staff and stakeholders were selected to participate.
   The identification of staff in key roles to take part in the event was important and relied on engagement with internal and outside stakeholders. It was important that the correct person attended and didn’t send someone in their stead to get feedback from the event.
2. Ensuring that participants didn’t ‘let the cat out of the bag’
   Because the awareness event relied on participants being unaware of how it was to be run and being a little uncomfortable with the lack of knowledge, it was critical that the first people to participate didn’t forewarn others. This would have reduced the effectiveness of the training for future participants. It is a fully immersive engagement awareness exercise which requires buy in from participants for it to work properly and give the best training outcome for those involved.
3. Managing the appointments around busy work schedules and ensuring that all slots were filled to achieve maximum participation.
   Using an appointment system allowed the management of attendance and reduced the time that staff needed to be away from their desks. It also allowed managers plan the release of their staff without affecting service delivery. Early engagement with those involved was critical here.

3 Outcomes / Benefits

1. Participants were able to take the knowledge and experience gained and consider how their decisions and work practices can affect the lives of people living with Dementia for good or for bad.
   All participants reported it as being a high value event and said everyone should complete this training.
   Best practice information and documents were also made available at the event, such as Being Age Friendly in the Public Realm and the Dementia Inclusive Community Guide From a Universal Design Approach.
2. Participants gained an understanding of what it is like to live with dementia and learned how best to interact with people living with the condition.
   From a customer service and interaction perspective, the event offered advice on how best to interact with people living with Dementia and the importance of communicating appropriately. It also highlighted the individuality of Dementia and the fact that no two people living with Dementia will have the same experience of the disease.
3. Change in how participating Gardai approach callers who may have Dementia.
   The Gardai have changed how they approach callers who may be living with Dementia and have a greater understanding of what the underlying reason for the contact with the Gardai may be and how best to offer assistance and reassurance.