Dementia link workers provide support, information and advice to people with dementia or awaiting diagnosis.
If you’re referred to a specialist in the diagnosing dementia, you may have to wait for the results. During this difficult time, our dementia link workers are here to provide help and support.
A named worker is allocated to each person assessed with a diagnosis of dementia. We have two kinds of named worker: dementia link workers and dementia advisers.
Dementia link workers are aligned to the 8 GP networks in Ealing and work from the charity, Dementia Concern.
They provide support and advice, working with GPs and the Older People’s Mental Health Services (OPMH), including dementia teams, in Ealing.
They ensure people experiencing cognitive difficulties are:
- Assessed
- Given information and support
- Referred appropriately.
Find out more about dementia link workers on the Dementia Concern website
Find out more about dementia advisers on the Dementia Concern website
If you receive a diagnosis of dementia, , we’ll assess you and your carer. You and your carer will then be able to access our services and those provided by other organisations.
Our staff advocate for the person with dementia and their carer.
This means we:
- Help you to access services
- Represent you at meetings
- Work with organisations and professionals to co-ordinate your care and the services you need.
Advice and information
We provide carers with advice and information about:
- All aspects of dementia
- The services available
- How to care more effectively for a relative or friend with dementia.
Information and advice can be given:
- On the phone
- During home visits
- By appointments at the office
- By letter.
We give specialist advice and assistance on welfare benefits. This includes checking that you’re claiming all the benefits to which you’re entitled.
We support carers on a continuing basis. We help them come to terms with the diagnosis of dementia and relieve some of their stress.
With support, carers are more able to understand their role and to make decisions about caring.
We also offer a monitoring service to carers who say they do not need specific help.
This monitoring and support service helps people with dementia who live alone, enabling them to continue living at home.
The service includes:
- Continuing emotional and practical support via phone calls and home visits
- Monitoring to ensure relevant and effective services are in place
- Helping the person with dementia attend appointments.
We also liaise with:
- Carers who may live some distance away
- Healthcare professionals involved in the care of the person with dementia, particularly following discharge from hospital.
This service offers a range of support and interventions to address complex problems and gaps in services.
Our advocacy service gives people with dementia a voice in planning their care and involvement in making decisions. We support inpatients with dementia and their carers at Ealing Hospital and on Jubilee Ward, St Bernard’s Hospital.
Our advocate:
- Provides advice and information to people with dementia and their carers
- Discusses problems and issues about dementia with hospital staff
- Works with a range of professionals to ensure early discharge once there’s no medical reason for a person with dementia to be in hospital
- Helps the person with dementia if they’re move to residential or nursing care
- Supports carers through their emotional issues.
You can be referred to the service by your GP or any healthcare professional.