Adopting innovative thinking for tackling Alzheimer’s

With World Alzheimer's Day taking place on 21 September, staff from across the Trust are attacking Alzheimer's disease from very different angles.

Long waits for assessment and diagnosis are nationwide issues but GPs in South Wiltshire, Bristol and South Gloucestershire have teamed up with AWP's memory services to tackle this locally. Their pilots, in which memory nurses straddle primary and secondary care, are already making a big difference.

In other parts of AWP's region, research is playing a key role. In Wiltshire, the Kingshill Research Centre is focusing on early diagnosis and inhibition of disease progression. One study will trial the use of immune globin intravenous which uses human antibodies to prevent inflammation. The second study is looking to identify those people who could develop Alzheimer's in later life.

The new issue of Ourvoice covers these projects in more detail and is available to read online by clicking here. 

Meanwhile in Bristol, the AWP-hosted South West Dementias and Neurodegenerative Diseases Research Network (SW DeNDRoN) is supporting high quality research into dementia, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease and motor neurone disease. The Living Well with Dementia: A Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial aims to find out whether attending a 'Living Well with Dementia' group improves quality of life in those recently diagnosed with dementia. The groups provide opportunities to meet others in a similar situation, to share thoughts and feelings and to learn new skills to help cope with dementia.

Recruitment to this trial has now closed. However, the service will continue to welcome referrals for this and other group programmes.

For further information about this study, please contact on south-west@dendron.org.uk or 0117 3784235.