Day Care simply no longer available

Day Care is an important facility for people who live with dementia and also their careers. In the UK, towns and villages run social clubs for dementia patients and their families and have done for more than 40 years, giving valuable respite for friends and families caring for people living with dementia. Many have now been forced to close permanently, having struggled for months to make ends meet.

And recently, yet another Council in east of England closed two of its ‘friendship clubs’ for dementia sufferers and stopped its meals-on-wheels service in an effort to save half a million pounds.

Many closures have been seen in the South West of England, with seven centres that offered social activities and respite care closing permanently in the past year, according to local reports.

Lesley Carter, clinical lead at Age UK, says the obliteration of day-care has caused a rapid deterioration in the health of thousands of patients. ‘The most vulnerable people in this country are rapidly declining without any support whatsoever,’ she adds.

‘Some have even lost the ability to walk simply because they haven’t used their muscles in a year. They’ve had no social contact, which causes confusion to spiral.