Dementia awareness in faith-led communities project gains funding

A Bristol Community Health grant has opened the door to enabling members of Sikh and Hindu communities in Bristol to improve their understanding of dementia.

The new project is a partnership between the Dementia Health Integration Team (HIT) and its working group on dementia and people of Black, Asian and other minority ethnic (BAME) origins and Bristol Dementia Action Alliance (BDAA). Building on the ‘Dementia-Friendly Churches’ programme- launched by BDAA in May 2018, the project hopes to reach out and work with Bristol’s Gurdwaras and Hindu Temple.

Over a series of gatherings and workshops, community members will be able to ask and learn more about dementia. Equally importantly, the project aims to enable faith buildings and communities to provide better support for their members who are affected by dementia:­­­ those with or without a formal diagnosis, their family and carers.

The project will run from February to November 2019, coordinated by Subitha Baghirathan, a member of the Working Group on dementia and people of BAME origins. The working group focuses on carrying out the recommendations of the 2016 UWE Bristol study ‘Dementia experiences of Caribbean, Chinese and South Asian people in Bristol‘. It is an active collaboration across different sectors, including representatives from BAME-led voluntary and community sector organisations, Bristol Dementia Wellbeing Service, and Public Health.

For more information on the working group and this project contact Julie Clayton, Coordinator of the Dementia HIT on [email protected].

Fore more on the ‘Dementia-Friendly Churches’ programme please contact Tony Hall, Chair of BDAA on [email protected].