Over 50% of the team have now become Dementia Friends
JANUARY 2018: Lifehouse Spa & Hotel is proud to announce it has collaborated with the Alzheimer’s Society to offer Dementia Friend Information Sessions to the entire Lifehouse staff so that they are able to provide a high level of service for guests living with dementia.
The Alzheimer’s Society’s ‘Dementia Friends’ is the biggest ever initiative to transform the way the nation thinks, acts and talks about dementia. Becoming a Dementia Friend simply means finding out more about how dementia affects a person – and then, armed with this understanding, doing small everyday things that help.
The initial batch of Information Sessions were delivered to over 50% of the Lifehouse workforce in the last quarter of 2017, with staff from all departments getting involved. The remainder will then be carried out in early 2018 to ensure all members of staff are better equipped to welcome guests with dementia to Lifehouse. This will also allow carers to feel more relaxed, knowing that their loved one is being well looked after during their visit to the hotel & spa.
Once all Lifehouse team members have received the Dementia Friend Information Sessions, the company will then identify actions they can take as, as part of the local Dementia Action Alliance, making simple changes based on what is known to be important to people affected by dementia and will truly change their experience.
Lifehouse are paving the way in the spa industry with this resort-wide awareness raising as they did with ‘Cancer Aware’ training in 2014 by welcoming those with cancer into their spa, something which was mainly unheard of before then.
Anne Coupe-Harris, Support Officer/Dementia champion at Alzheimer’s Society says: “It has been a pleasure to deliver Dementia Friends sessions to the staff at Lifehouse and the passion that they have to become a dementia friendly spa is evident from the willingness to engage with the local community. We have over 20,000 people living with dementia in Essex and they need to feel valued and able to continue being part of society. Life does not stop when dementia starts. I applaud Lifehouse for the work they are doing around dementia and becoming the first Dementia Friendly spa in the UK.”
Danielle Alen, Spa & Hotel Director at Lifehouse: “At Lifehouse we are keen to lead the way within the industry to become the first spa in the UK to be ‘Dementia Friendly’. With dementia now the lead cause of death in England and Wales, it is something that affects many of us. As a designated place to come for relaxation and recuperation, a spa should be able to welcome those living with dementia, as we do with those going through cancer. This is something very close to my heart and I am passionate about equipping our staff with the tools to be able to fulfil our guests’ needs at every level. The response to the training so far has been fantastic and we are very excited to be working towards our dementia friendly status this year.”
To find out more about how to become a Dementia Friend, please click here
