Workshops offer deep insights into dementia mate wareware support
Recent workshops have given the Presbyterian Support Northern (PSN) team a deep insight into how to better provide service support for people and their whānau living with dementia mate wareware.
PSN held 10 Educational Dementia Immersive Experience (EDIE) workshops with different teams in the Auckland region – one of the largest cohorts from the same organisation since the programme’s inception.
EDIE uses state of the art virtual reality technology and equipment that allows users to ‘see’ the world through the eyes of a person living with dementia mate wareware.
The first workshop was held with Auckland Enliven in April, supported by funding from the Freemasons Group.
PSN General Manager Health and Disability Wendy Hoskin says feedback from the team has been great.
“They appreciated the chance to experience what it is like for a person living with dementia in such an immersive way and being able to have your expert knowledge provide some deep insights into how to provide better support.”
In total, 96 people were offered the chance to attend training and everyone who participated spoke about how invaluable the experience had been.
“They also spoke about things they have learned from the experience and how they would implement the understanding that they now have in how they approach the work that they do,” says Wendy.
Some of the feedback so far includes:
“Interactive and informative session. People who are in care positions for any dementia person should get this kind of training so they can see the other side of the world.”
“Amazing training for the length of time that it is delivered. Very helpful for my role in the community.”
Alzheimers NZ Dementia Learning Centre Director Dr Kathy Peri says the insight provided by EDIE will only improve the services offered by organisations like PSN.
“We’re always delighted to get such positive feedback from the sessions but what makes it worthwhile is when people can use what they’ve learnt to make a real difference for people living with dementia.”
CAPTION: One of the Auckland Enliven team at a recent EDIE workshop in April 2024