Lifehouse, the spa and hotel at Thorpe-le-Soken, near Frinton-on-Sea, has teamed up with the Alzheimer’s Society to offer “Dementia Friends” information sessions to its entire staff.
Dementia Friends is a major initiative by the society 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.
An initial batch of information sessions were delivered to more than half of the Lifehouse workforce in the last quarter of 2017, with the remainder to be covered by sessions early 2018. This follows on from “Cancer Aware” training delivered to the spa’s staff during 2014.
Danielle Alen, spa and 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.”
Anne Coupe-Harris, support officer/dementia champion at the Alzheimer’s Society, said: “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.”
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