‘Dementia link to sudden low blood pressure and dizziness’
October 13, 2024
A group of 750 Lloyds Banking Group employees became Dementia Friends yesterday when they took time out from a training day to take part in a dementia information session.
Gathered together at the National Motorcycle Museum in Solihull, Lloyds Banking Group telephone banking managers from across the UK were joined by Alzheimer’s Society Director of Fundraising and Dementia Friends Champion Liz Monks.
Through exercises and discussion, Liz got participants to imagine what life might be like for someone with dementia. Newly created Dementia Friends were then asked to turn their understanding into action, with a pledge of what they could do to improve life for people with dementia.
Dementia Friends is an Alzheimer’s Society initiative to create more communities that are dementia-friendly. This volunteer-led initiative aims to have recruited a million Dementia Friends by 2015, as part of a social movement to change lives.
Liz, who has run several Dementia Friends sessions since the initiative launched in February, said:
‘Today has been fantastic. It’s the biggest Dementia Friends session that has taken place so far. The response from participants was really positive and I spoke to lots of different people about their personal experiences of dementia and how important they think increasing public understanding of the condition really is.
We are thrilled that Lloyds Banking Group invited us to come along today. It demonstrates their ongoing commitment to making their business more dementia-friendly. The colleagues I presented to all have roles that could require them to speak to people with dementia. By learning that little bit more about what it might be like to live with the condition, they will be able to help and support people better.’
Jim Mcooe, Telephone Banking Head of Region for Northern Ireland at Lloyds Banking Group said:
‘Today really brought home the importance of being fully alert to how dementia might impact our customers and with so many colleagues attending the session, I really do believe we are heading in the right direction to help ensure people with dementia and their carers can live well with the condition.’
Lloyds Banking Group have also partnered with Alzheimer’s Society and Alzheimer Scotland as their charity of the year. Together, they have developed the ‘Live Well’ campaign, the first national support programme for people with dementia and their carers, designed to educate them about how to cope with day-to-day life and how to plan for the future.
Graham Lindsay, Responsible Business Director at Lloyds Banking Group, said:
‘With 44 per cent of people in the UK connected to someone living with dementia, we know that many of our colleagues and customers will be affected by the condition at some point in their lives.
By funding the ‘Live Well’ programme, we hope to help people live the best possible quality of life. Today’s Dementia Friends session is invaluable experience for our telephone banking managers,who deal with people with dementia regularly, perhaps without even realising it. We are looking forward to working on other similar initiatives through our partnership with Alzheimer’s Society and Alzheimer Scotland to ensure that we continue to become more dementia-friendly.’
Source Alzheimer’s Society