Tendring Community Assets Full Final Report

23 lonely then it was welfare benefit advice which had the biggest impact. Advice in general and transport also featured as support that had an impact for older people in terms of loneliness reduction. 6.7.7 The findings in all reports do suggest that offering targeted programmes can be a useful way of giving people the confidence to try out something different by offering a safe, comfortable space. This was found to act as a springboard to get people socialising in a meaningful and natural way, with activities such as music sessions or afternoon tea allowing people to mix and chat. If befriending is on a more individual basis, such as for those with significant mobility issues or ill health, then a tailored approach is needed sensitive to the individual's preferences. 6.7.8 There are advice sessions available across the district, such as Citizens Advice Tendring which operates from Clacton with some out-reach sessions. 6.7.9 There are some (although not many) residential homes which offer activities or social events to non residents. These include open days at Corner Lodge in Jaywick and the open sessions at its sister organisation Corner House in Clacton. While talking with residential homes, it became clear that some would offer shower/bathing facilities to older people living in the community and unable to bathe themselves, as well as access to lunch or coffee in their communal areas. This may be an area for commissioners to explore in contracts with residential and nursing providers. Corner House Clacton is a residential home offering a wide variety of activities for residents (including numerous outings, day trips, fish and chip suppers, etc) many of which involve the wider community. For example, the local St James church and congregation join the residents' weekly choir, the young Beaver scouts group will pay regular visits, and regular open cake and coffee mornings are held where the public can come in an hear more about the home's services. The home is sister organisation to the Corner Lodge specialist dementia home in Jaywick, which also runs numerous open days and events where the community can enjoy the day's activities with residents. Both homes achieve a "good" CQC rating. 6.8 Living with the experience of dementia 6.8.1 According to the Alzheimer's Society, around 800,000 people in the UK have Dementia. This condition has major impacts on ability to live independently and on accessing the right type of care and support. Research 23 updated in 2015 into dementia prevalence by Parliamentary Constituency and CCG, indicates that Tendring has significant challenges with dementia, reflecting the high number of older people in its population. The Parliamentary Constituency of Clacton has 2129 people living with dementia, which ranks 11 th out of the 650 constituencies in the UK, and Harwich and North East Essex constituency has 1562 people living with dementia, raking 119 th in the UK. When looking at this as a percentage if the population, Clacton has 2.43% of the population with dementia, which ranks 4 th in the UK. Looking at North East Essex CCG level, there are 5669 people with dementia (ranked 23 rd out of 209 CCGs), which equates to 1.63% of the population (ranked 33 rd ). The rate of diagnosis of dementia in Tendring is significantly lower than in Essex and England. This may be due to poor recording practice from GPs and care homes, rather than poor or no diagnosis. 23 Alzheimer’s research UK, Dementia Hotspot Maps, updated 2015