Circles of Support for People with Dementia

Please click on the Insight to the right of this page (Insight 18) for a summary of learning from the project to date

We are recording individual stories for people who are involved in this project. On the right, please find two stories describing how William and Bruce’s Circles have developed so far.  Also, one of the carers involved in a Circle (Liz) has written a Top Ten List for carers of people with dementia, which can also be found on the right. Many thanks to all who have agreed to share their experiences.

Circles of Support for People with Dementia is taking place in 4 local areas in the South of England:

• Mid Devon, where we’re working with Upstream
• Dorset, where we’re working with Alzheimer’s Society Dorset
• Portsmouth, where we’re working with Age UK Portsmouth
• West London, where we’re working with Alzheimer’s Society, Hounslow   

In each of these areas, we’re working with local people, organisations and groups to develop, adapt and test circles of support for people living with dementia.  It is planned that ‘Circles’ will be developed for 40 people over the 3 years, improving awareness, understanding and confidence in enabling people to live well with dementia. 

A Circle of Support is a small group of people (which could include family and friends) who come together to support a person. The group helps the person to identify what they would like to do in their life, then makes this happen.  Circles of Support build upon people’s natural networks in their local communities including family members, neighbours, friends and volunteers, as well as paid staff.   

We’re looking for people with dementia who would like to develop their own Circle. We’re also looking for Circle Link people who would like to work directly with someone with dementia to help them develop their Circle of Support. If you live in one of the 4 areas above and you’d be interested in taking part, please see one of the leaflets which can be downloaded from this page (shown under related downloads).  Alternatively, please contact Alison Macadam on 01202 421480, email details under the contacts section on the right.

 We’re also very keen to hear from other organisations based in the 4 areas who’d be interested in working with us on this project. For more information on the organisations already involved, please see the Useful Links section of this page.