ARMED forces veterans who care for a loved one with dementia - and carers of veterans with the condition - can now get access to vital support through a specialist nursing service that is setting up in Gwent.
The Admiral Nurse Service run by the Royal British Legion came to south Wales last autumn, initially covering an area encompassing Neath in the west, to Cardiff in the east.
But, its nursing team having now doubled to four, it is beginning to reach out to Gwent veterans and their loved ones who are trying to cope with caring for someone with dementia.
Admiral Nurses were originally an initiative of Dementia UK, and the Royal British Legion (RBL) is working with that charity to develop its own service.
The focus of the service is to maintain independence and to improve the quality of life for carers and families.
“The RBL has had Admiral nurses for three or four years in other parts of the UK, but Wales is fairly new ground,” said Helen Buckley, Admiral nurse and regional lead for the RBL’s south Wales service.
“We are fully qualified, mental health-trained nurses, and we deal with complex cases, getting referrals from, for instance, social services, carers’ assessment teams, memory clinics, carers’ groups and, where people know about us, they can refer themselves.”
“’Time for self’ is a key aspect of our work, for the carer. We look at issues such as anxiety management, relaxation, and to a point, counselling.
“Education is a vital part of the role.
“Helping people to understand what dementia is, helping people to understand and making sense of why the person they are looking after is behaving the way they are.
“Supporting and empowering carers is at the heart of it, and you cannot separate the carer and the cared for.”
“It can be about helping improve carers’ health, and picking up on changes in behaviour in the person with dementia, that can be down to issues like water infections, or dehydration.
“And it is also talking with carers about the prevention of things like water infections.
“We can be involved with our cases for as long as required, and even when they are discharged, we are only a phone call away.”
For more information, telephone the RBL on 0808 802 8080, or visit www.britishle
gion.org.uk or www.demen
tiauk.org
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