About South Tipperary Dementia Project
Imagine being asked as frontline clinicians how you thought the services and supports your patients receive could be enhanced and improved and then being given significant funding to deliver that change? Well that is exactly what happened to us in South Tipperary through the Genio dementia project.
Genio is a new organization, founded in 2008, that combines philanthropic funding from Atlantic Philanthropies with state funding from the HSE and the Department of Health to support innovative service delivery in mental health, in disability and now in dementia. Genio’s focus is very much on keeping people who use the service at the core of decision-making and on supporting them to lead valued lives in their own communities.
Funds of over 4 million euro were committed to the project, which would run for over 3 years in 4 different geographical sites, and Genio invited groups to form consortia to bid for that funding, with people with dementia and their carers being central to that process. Consortia were also expected to include professionals involved in dementia care and voluntary and community organisations which could provide enhanced support to people with dementia in their own community.
We were very concerned in South Tipperary about how little support there was for people with dementia, particularly in a time of crisis. We know that most of the cost of dementia care is borne by families and informal carers and that community supports for people with dementia are often fragmented and inadequate, propelling people prematurely in to long-term care. As clinicians we had already set up a range of services for people with dementia, the Le Cairde respite centre in Clonmel which has been handed over to The Alzheimers Society to ensure its’ future viability and the Cashel Memory Clinic. The more services we set up, the more apparent the gaps in service provision became, gaps in information, in respite and in support. It is easier to secure Fair Deal funding for someone with dementia for long-term care, than it is to provide more than a few hours care for them in the community. Many of our carers are themselves elderly with their own health needs, and if the carer becomes ill there is often no choice but to place the person in long-term care, as emergency respite is effectively non-existent.
There was huge interest in forming a consortium in South Tipperary and in bidding for this funding. At the core of our consortium are our people with dementia, our carers and four voluntary bodies; The Alzheimers Society, The Carers Association (now known as Family Carers Ireland), Muintir na Tire and the Community and Voluntary Forum which is an umbrella group for all voluntary groups in the county. Frontline clinical staff involved includes a public health nurse, the Director of Public Health Nursing, three clinical nurse specialists in Old Age Psychiatry, our advanced nurse practitioner in dementia, two occupational therapists and a social worker. All three consultants working with older people in South Tipperary are involved- the Old Age Psychiatrist and the two Consultants in Geriatric Medicine and our GP represents the local ICGP faculty. The HSE is represented by the Manager of Older Persons Services and a Home Help Co-Ordinator.
Genio is a new organization, founded in 2008, that combines philanthropic funding from Atlantic Philanthropies with state funding from the HSE and the Department of Health to support innovative service delivery in mental health, in disability and now in dementia. Genio’s focus is very much on keeping people who use the service at the core of decision-making and on supporting them to lead valued lives in their own communities.
Funds of over 4 million euro were committed to the project, which would run for over 3 years in 4 different geographical sites, and Genio invited groups to form consortia to bid for that funding, with people with dementia and their carers being central to that process. Consortia were also expected to include professionals involved in dementia care and voluntary and community organisations which could provide enhanced support to people with dementia in their own community.
We were very concerned in South Tipperary about how little support there was for people with dementia, particularly in a time of crisis. We know that most of the cost of dementia care is borne by families and informal carers and that community supports for people with dementia are often fragmented and inadequate, propelling people prematurely in to long-term care. As clinicians we had already set up a range of services for people with dementia, the Le Cairde respite centre in Clonmel which has been handed over to The Alzheimers Society to ensure its’ future viability and the Cashel Memory Clinic. The more services we set up, the more apparent the gaps in service provision became, gaps in information, in respite and in support. It is easier to secure Fair Deal funding for someone with dementia for long-term care, than it is to provide more than a few hours care for them in the community. Many of our carers are themselves elderly with their own health needs, and if the carer becomes ill there is often no choice but to place the person in long-term care, as emergency respite is effectively non-existent.
There was huge interest in forming a consortium in South Tipperary and in bidding for this funding. At the core of our consortium are our people with dementia, our carers and four voluntary bodies; The Alzheimers Society, The Carers Association (now known as Family Carers Ireland), Muintir na Tire and the Community and Voluntary Forum which is an umbrella group for all voluntary groups in the county. Frontline clinical staff involved includes a public health nurse, the Director of Public Health Nursing, three clinical nurse specialists in Old Age Psychiatry, our advanced nurse practitioner in dementia, two occupational therapists and a social worker. All three consultants working with older people in South Tipperary are involved- the Old Age Psychiatrist and the two Consultants in Geriatric Medicine and our GP represents the local ICGP faculty. The HSE is represented by the Manager of Older Persons Services and a Home Help Co-Ordinator.
