Pioneering website for people with dementia is a year old

Creators of a scheme to support people with dementia and their carers are celebrating a successful first year.

For the past 12 months, DemenShare.com has enabled people with dementia and their carers to come together online to discuss the ways in which dementia affects their lives.

The site was launched by Cheshire East Council, along with Central and Eastern Cheshire PCT, Age UK Cheshire and web developer Opportunity Links.

Operating in a similar way to Facebook, the pioneering website offers users the opportunity to share experiences and find out more about the support and services available.

And a year down the line, users, who are encouraged to ‘brew up, sit down, log in’, have been able to interact with and advise each other.

Councillor Roland Domleo, Cabinet member with responsibility for adult services, said: “Many DemenShare users prefer to remain anonymous and create their own usernames but we know there are success stories.

“We have seen examples of users asking for help, whether it be a relative with an eating problem or someone simply suspecting a family member has the condition. And thanks to the advice of fellow users and site managers, these problems have been addressed.

“I am delighted that this website has been a useful platform for users and I hope they can continue to find it a place where they can let off steam and share experiences.”

There are currently 360 registered users, and the past year has seen more than 6,000 visits and more than 3,900 unique visitors.

DemenShare has even attracted attention on the world stage. It was shortlisted for an International Dementia Excellence Award last year in the ‘Design Innovation’ category.

The panel was overwhelmed by the large number of excellent submissions from around the world, so being shortlisted was a real accolade.

There has been significant interest in DemenShare from other local authorities and its founders are now jointly exploring funding streams and ways of developing and extending this model of support so that many new communities can also benefit from DemenShare.

The website’s community resource manager, Diane Christopherson, of Age UK Cheshire, whose role is to signpost people to the help they need on the website, will be available at the following events to speak to existing and prospective users:

· Wednesday, November 9 (10am – 7pm) – Independent Living Exhibition at Tenants Hall, Tatton Park, Knutsford

· Wednesday, November 16 (9.30am – 2pm) – Age UK Cheshire Health and Wellbeing Open Day at the Oakley Centre, Crewe

· Wednesday, November 23 (Time TBC) – Nantwich Health Centre, off Beam Street.

Testimonials

“Having five elderly relatives ranging from 73 to 90, it is most reassuring to know that such a wealth of support is literally at our fingertips should we need it. Thank you.”

“Hi. I care for my mum, have done for four years now and I love her to bits and never want to put her in a home. I find some days really hard with her but we have lots of laughs in a day. I hope this forum takes off as sometimes it is nice to be able to read other people’s problems they are having and it makes yours seem like nothing. I look forward to catching up here each day. Have a good day today xxx”

“Hi. My name is Linda. I got this site from my doctor, very useful, very needed!”