A Meppershall care home has unveiled a new 21-bed specialist ward for residents living with dementia.
New Meppershall Care Home officially opened the new unit last month, named Daffodil House, which is uniquely designed to support those living with dementia.
The ward was opened by Mayor of Shefford, Paul Mackin, who is partnering with the care home this year to make the town more dementia friendly.
As part of the launch, the care home also invited over 100 local residents to experience the virtual reality Dementia Tour Bus, which simulates what it is like to live with dementia. Through a special headset, the experience explains the realities and challenges facing those who live with the disease.
“I’m so pleased that we were able to host such a wonderful launch of our new dementia unit, Daffodil House,” home manager Mary Sebastian said. “Our residents, staff and families were so pleased to be involved in the whole process from naming their home, to decorating the building – and even baking treats for the guests.
“We’re also proud to be working with the Mayor to make Shefford more dementia friendly and the feedback from all the relatives, staff, general public and local professionals has been fantastic.”
Mayor of Shefford Paul Mackin added: “I was pleased to be invited to attend the opening of this new dementia unit. The invitation came just at the time we were planning to make Shefford a dementia friendly town.
“We are planning training sessions for shopkeepers to make them aware of the signs of dementia that may be affecting customers – the official opening of the ward has come right at the start of our project.
All the visitors who went into the Dementia Tour Bus were shocked by how disorientating it was to be transferred into that world, even for a short time.
He added: “A tour of the facility was very informative and gave us some ideas to add to our programme in Shefford. The unit is very well laid out and tries to recreate domestic environments so that residents do not see themselves in unfamiliar types of surroundings.
“I would like to thank all the staff who were involved in the event and tolerated us roaming about the facility and the residents who must have found it a little strange to have so many new faces around.”
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