17 May National Award for local Dementia Heroes
Three local dementia heroes have been awarded the Alzheimer’s Society Outstanding Achievement Award 2023, at the National Dementia Hero Awards event, which took place on Friday 28 April, in Birmingham.
Paul Harvey, Eamonn Dobbyn and Tim Little, have been given this prestigious award for the amazing work they have voluntarily undertaken with Mid and South Essex Integrated Care System. Through sharing their own experiences Paul, Eamonn and Tim have supported the co-design and development of an early on set dementia care pathway in Essex.
This valued work has resulted in a new early on set dementia peer support service and the development of early on set dementia diagnosis service in Essex, along with a Memory Assessment Service, which is now being piloted, to provide clinics specifically for people under 65.
Alfred Bandakpara-Taylor, Deputy Director of Mental Health, Mid and South Essex ICB, said:
“We are delighted to see our three champions receive the recognition they deserve!
These three inspirational volunteers have used their own personal experience of what it means to live with dementia, are now set to transform the lives and futures of others.
The work they have undertaken with Mid and South Essex ICS has provided valued insight through their experiences. It has helped us to identify gaps and barriers in local services and has also enabled us to work together to redesign early on set dementia support services for people across Essex.
It is our aim to continue to work together to use their experience to help us to develop training tools for healthcare professionals and to support us to raise awareness across mid and south Essex.”
Dr Feena Sebastian, Consultant Psychiatrist, Deputy Medical Director for Mid and South Community Services, Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, said:
“Congratulations to our early onset dementia peers for winning such a well-deserved award.
Working in partnership with people who have their own experience of dementia is key to enable the transformation and redesign of dementia services for our local population.
Our involvement in this partnership work, along with our inspirational volunteers and our partners across the integrated care system, means that we can continue to provide better and more informed care and support for people and families who may experience dementia.”
Paul, Eammon and Tim’s passion to continue to make improvements for people with dementia is very evident and it can be summed up in their own few words:
“We cannot change the process for those already diagnosed but we are working tirelessly for those who will come through that pathway in the future.
“We want a diagnosis to be the start of the next chapter of your life & not the end of it”
