Progress in plan to make Bantry town dementia-friendly

WORK is continuing to make Bantry a better town to grow old in including plans being explored for a monthly dementia café.

After being selected in 2019 by the County Council as an age-friendly town, there’s now a dedicated committee striving to make the town more inclusive for people living with dementia, and their carers. 

Inspired by Kinsale and  Tralee, where progress in this area has been made, an information meeting took place last May organised by Bantry Age Friendly in association with the Alzheimer Society of Ireland and HSE/Cork Kerry Community Healthcare.  

Since then a dementia sub-group has been set up comprising Winnie O’Sullivan and Ger Reaney, Bantry Age Friendly; Vanessa Bradbury, dementia advisor with the Alzheimer Society; Evie Finlay, community worker Cork Kerry Community Healthcare; Ber O’Riordan, Ann Harrington, PJ Cooke,  Mary Bohane, dementia specialist Bantry General Hospital; Sinead O’Reilly, national dementia office and Kathryn Kingston, West Cork Development Partnership.

The next step is to introduce training to local businesses, sports clubs, public services and other organisations to better include people who are living with dementia.

They’ll also focus on raising awareness among the public about dementia to dispel myths and anxiety because, as Vanessa pointed out, there’s still a lot of stigma around the condition, which 11 people a day are diagnosed with in Ireland.

‘It’s a very complex issue. I know one man who communicates his diagnosis to people around him, and I feel that’s a really healthy attitude to have. But in doing that, sometimes people will lose friends. 

‘People who they’ve known for years and years may suddenly cross the road when they see them, because they don’t understand, or they don’t know how to communicate with the person. 

‘There’s a lot of fear around the illness and that’s why sometimes families feel safer in keeping it very tight rather than asking for help at a much earlier stage, which is why the dementia-friendly community initiative is very helpful. It starts people talking. We saw that at the information evening by the amount of people there who wanted to find out more.’

In rural areas, she said, it’s also about having a community network who can look out for an individual, or the wider family and offer support.  

‘It’s very important and it changes the perception of what the illness is about. 

‘It is a frightening diagnosis but with help and support we can enable people to live as well as possible with it,’ said Vanessa. 

Winnie referred to Fair City actor Brian Murray’s recent announcement that he has Alzheimers. ‘He’s very positive and is showing how you have to work to the best of your ability with the diagnosis.’. 

Tralee and Killarney already have Alzheimers/memory cafés and the hope is to introduce one in Bantry. 

Vanessa said: ‘It’s not a visible illness, so it’s important there are spaces to meet and chat and normalise the illness.’

Other objectives of the group are to advocate for improved services for people living with dementia in the area. 

Winnie pointed out how it could be as basic as having more pedestrian crossings in the town. 

‘Small things can make a big difference,’ she said.

Evie concluded: ‘What Bantry has is a really strong community and there’s a lot of openness to make things work well for people and we’re delighted to build on that and keep the momentum going.’

• The Alzheimer Society of Ireland’s freephone helpline is at 1800 341 341 

• The National Dementia Office’s website includes a range of resources intended for use by professionals, family members and people living with dementia: www.understandtogether.ie