Aylesford welcomes the Dementia Tour

Aylesford school’s Dementia Tour

As part of the schoools ongoing community projects around Dementia the School were lucky enough to have the Virtual Dementia Tour Bus in school on Friday courtesy of Kent County Council and Training2Care.

28 students and 12 staff were able to experience a virtual simulation of Dementia followed by a debrief from an experienced trainer in dementia care.

Students got the opportunity to virtually experience what it is like to live with Dementia. This is the only medically and scientifically proven method of giving a person with a healthy brain the experience of what dementia might be like. Invented 23 years ago in America by leading professor PK Beville, CEO Second Wind Dreams, the VDT has been experienced by over 3 million people in 23 countries. This training is about empowerment for all including staff, relatives or anyone that comes into direct or indirect contact with people with dementia. The core principal and the heart of the organisation is to ensure that people remember that they are responsible for the person and not the disease, and to help those being trained to recognise that they have a responsibility to focus on the person and not what is convenient to them.

This was perfect preparation for students taking part in the dementia cafe and gave them a number of ways to ensure that those at the dementia cafe feel safe, comfortable and well looked after when they visit on the 19th December.

The experience was so moving that one student said that ‘everybody should have access to this experience,’ whilst a member of staff said that, despite years working in care homes and being trained in working with dementia, “this was by far the best training she had ever been part of”.

All were very glad when the headphones with amplified noise and tunnel vision glasses were taken off. Students and staff showed tremendous courage to take part as the experience left them feeling disoriented and powerless to do even the most mundane tasks and it gave students far more compassion and respect for all those who are unable to take the headphones off and live with dementia every day of their lives.

Thanks must go to all the members of staff who supported this event, all the students and staff for taking part so willingly and to Mr Neeve for organising.