Patrick Gray, from Dementia Action Alliance, talks to healthcare students at CONEL.
Healthcare students found out more about dementia during a presentation at the College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London (CONEL).
Around 50 students on Health and Social Care diplomas and Access to Higher Education courses attended the talk by the Dementia Action Alliance (DAA) on 23 November.
Around 850,000 people in the UK are currently living with dementia with the condition costing the country £26.3 billion each year.
Students Doris Badu, Imurana Alhassan and Maria Lopez were among the students who attended the presentation at the College’s Tottenham Centre.
Doris, 26, said: “It was really informative. I used to think people with dementia couldn’t do anything and always needed to help the, but now my perception has really changed.”
Imurana, 32, said: “I learnt that dementia can happen to anyone no matter what their circumstances, and how important it is to respect their needs.”
Maria, 19, said: “Everything I’ve heard I can use to help treat people with dementia in the future.”
Patrick Gray, from Dementia Action Alliance, back row centre, with healthcare students Doris Badu, Alhassan, Alicia Gabriel. Emmanuel Ntambala and Maria Lopez.
DDA is a group of around 150 organisations across England committed to sharing best practice and taking action to improve the lives people affected by dementia.
Members include leading charities, hospitals, social care providers, government bodies, pharmaceuticals, royal colleges and wellbeing organisations.
Patrick Gray, Dementia Friendly Community Co-ordinator at DDA, said: “Unfortunately, we find there is still a lot of misunderstanding about dementia in the medical profession.
“These students will be the next generation to work in the healthcare industry, and so it’s important we increase their level of awareness about this condition and how it affects people living with it in the community.”
CONEL offers Health and Social Care diplomas from Entry Level to Level 3 along with Access to Higher Education Diploma courses in Nursing, Social Work and Midwifery.