I have been involved in the set up and launch of the D-Mob Peer Support Group for people with dementia in Brighton. This new group is growing in confidence and with light touch facilitation the members are finding their feet and finding their voices. The group is now part of the Dementia Engagement and Empowerment Project (DEEP) network which brings together groups of people with dementia from across the UK.
What D-Mob and DEEP means to us: comments from our members:
“The group allows me to meet a wide variety of people, I often have fixed ideas, but I like to hear other people’s ideas and experiences”
“The biggest thing for me is regularly meeting each other and remembering we are mates and that we can talk about our experiences of dementia in the town”
“It’s when I get with nice people, that I feel so comfortable”
“In the D-Mob group I feel safe around people with the same diagnosis as me, thank you for setting it up!”
D-Mob members completed a dementia inclusive audit of the Brighton Hilton Metropole, the 2018 Dementia Congress venue. The slide show and summary document we created was shared with the hotel and conference organisers. We had great feedback from conference goers.
D-Mob have now completed audits of local GP surgeries and local supermarkets. As a guide we used the “Is this INSIDE public space dementia-inclusive?” tool produced in April 2017 by Innovations in Dementia CIC, ECRED (University of Edinburgh) and Dementia Centre Hammond Care. Tested by member groups of the UK DEEP network (dementiavoices.org.uk).
D-Mob held a workshop at The Dementia Congress in Brighton in November 2018: “D-Mob: Finding our feet, finding our voice and helping you find yours. Sharing the journey of forming a new DEEP group and creating a local information pack for people living with dementia attending Congress in our home town of Brighton & Hove”. It’s a pleasure to watch people’s confidence growing as they share experiences and support each other.
