TOM`S CLUB - Alzheimer Europe

TOM’S CLUB
Kaye Efstathiou, Barbara Fitzpatrick
BEH-MHT, UK
BACKGROUND
• Need expressed by a carer who felt that
all the then current provision (groups,
cafes etc)addressed the needs of
carers or the needs of people with
dementia (pwds) and rarely both.
• The view was also expressed that
where this was not the case, and pwd’s
were included, their needs were poorly
met.
TOM’S CLUB
• Tom’s Club was officially launched in
June 2009 at the Victoria Day Unit,
based in St Ann’s Hospital, Haringey,
London.
• This was because we were unable to
find a suitable venue which we could
afford.
• The layout of the Day Hospital was
actually an excellent space to run a
group.
TOM HARMER
• Tom was a footballer who played for
both Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea
football clubs in the 1950s and 1960s.
• Tom had dementia and his wife Jean
cared for him for ten years.
• Jean could not leave Tom in the care of
others so seldom went anywhere
without him.
TOM HARMER
• She described feelings of loneliness
and isolation when caring for Tom.
• She described losing a lot of friends
over the years.
• She also worried about the lack of
cognitive stimulation for Tom.
TOM HARMER
• Jean and Tom were supported by the
Admiral Nurse service in Haringey.
• Tom died on Christmas Day 2007.
• After his death Jean donated £800 to
the Admiral Nurse Service to set up a
group for Carers and PWD’s - hence
the name Tom’s Club.
STRUCTURE
• Tom’s Club is based on other cafe
models which have been adapted to the
needs of the group as expressed by the
carers and pwds.
• We began with a key note speaker, (on
a relevant topic) followed by an
interactive session (quiz etc), a raffle,
and then a shared lunch.
STRUCTURE
• Once we had a core group we then
introduced the ‘parallel session’
designed specifically to meet the needs
of people with dementia.
PARALLEL
SESSION
• These arose out of the need to actively
engage with the person with dementia
• What does this mean?
PARALLEL
SESSION
• We noticed that sometimes the person
with dementia would lose interest, fidget
or otherwise disengage from the main
activity
• Carers often had to attend to their
relatives at this time and expressed a
need for a help to facilitate their need to
be informed as well as their relative’s
need to be stimulated
PARALLEL
SESSION
• We enlisted the help of our
Occupational Therapy Colleagues
• We looked at what Cognitive
Stimulation Therapy had to offer
• We were then able to offer this
additional special activity
•
•
•
PARALLEL
SESSION
Each Parallel session begins with creative
ways of introducing ourselves, our theme
music and a gentle orientation to time and
place
We then provide an activity (often sensory
stimulation) such as :
Choosing and listening to music, painting,
appreciating flowers and plants, and
sampling exotic fruits
SUCCESS!
• Tom’s club has been well received by
both carers and people with dementia.
• We began with a fairly small group of
about ten carers and pwd’s but now
have an interactive group of up to 35
carers and pwd’s.
SUPPORT
• The informal support carers get from
meeting each other is invaluable and
many new friendships have been
established.
• An Admiral Nurse is also always on
hand to see an individual carer and deal
with any issues as they arise.
THE FUTURE
• A bid was made to secure funding to
expand Tom’s club across Haringey
from a local charity, The Lewis Mary
Haynes Trust.
• We have secured £38,000 thanks to a
cross collaboration bid including the
NHS, Age UK.
• The Haynes Project will run for a period
of a year.
THE FUTURE
• The plan is to roll Tom’s club across a
number of venues across Haringey.
• To support this we will employ a project
worker for a period of a year with a
project lead (me) to oversee this.
• The hope is that at the end of the year
we will have 3 or maybe even 4 Tom’s
clubs in Haringey.
THE CHALLENGE
AHEAD
• The Challenges ahead include working
across the various agencies both
statutory and voluntary.
• Utilising volunteers who will require
some training to work with pwd’s.
• Finding sustainable venues and further
funding to keep Tom’s club going after
the project ends in a years time.