Dementia HIT success in 2015-16

Dr Liz Coulthard, Director of the Dementia Health Integration Team (HIT), reflects on the team’s work and successes in 2015-16.

The Dementia HIT aims to achieve the best quality of life
for people and families living with dementia. Since we began three years ago we
have made significant strides towards this goal. The Dementia Wellbeing Service
is celebrating its first birthday, with systems embedded in primary and
secondary care and largely positive feedback, particularly for their post-diagnosis
services.

A major achievement is identification of people living with
dementia. The national target for dementia diagnosis is 67 per cent. In
2012-2013, when the HIT formed, the dementia diagnosis rates in Bristol and
South Gloucestershire were 49.8 per cent and 47.8 per cent respectively. In
January 2016 these diagnosis rates have risen to 70.4 per cent in Bristol and
60.7 per cent in South Gloucestershire.

Everything we do
is underpinned by patient and public involvement (PPI) to shape the HIT’s work.
We have also carried out a survey that found that public attitudes are positive
towards people affected by dementia.

Research continues to be a major focus of the HIT. In
January 2016 our research team held a showcase event, highlighting dementia
research in disciplines as diverse as neurosurgery,
clinical trials, psychology, epidemiology, public health, laboratory and
clinical research. Hilary Doxford spoke about her experiences of taking part in
research as a person living with dementia.

Join Dementia Research (JDR) is a new national
initiative, with Avon and
Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership (AWP) hosting the local team. It
allows anyone over the age of 18 with or, significantly,
without a diagnosis of dementia, to register their interest in
national dementia research
and be matched to a huge range of research activities. In December 2015 the AWP JDR team hired a tour bus and travelled
the region to promote the initiative, resulting in 1,250 people joining and
making the West the leading region for registrations.

In June 2015
Bristol and South Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Groups launched Be Dementia
Aware. The
campaign called on people to talk to
their GP if they are concerned that they, or someone they care about, may be
showing signs of dementia. We aim to build on this work and link in to Public Health England’s Health Matters
initiative on midlife approaches to reduce dementia risk, launched in March
2016.

www.bristolhealthpartners.org.uk/dementia