Last week I was delighted to lead the ‘Dementia – Call 4 Action’ workshop in London, which we co-hosted with EIC. On the day, we were joined by innovators, businesses and charities to discuss solutions to help people live with Dementia(s).
As the Customer Safeguarding Manager for Cadent, I focus on a wide variety of vulnerable situations that can affect our customers.
I have the privilege of being the utility lead on the National Mental Capacity Forum (NMCF) and head the NMCF Utility Working Group, which works to create and disseminate practical guidance to companies on the many ways that we can help embed the Mental Capacity Act (2005). The aim of the group is to co-create approaches to support cross-industry consistency in providing the best support to all our customers, and to implement these in business as usual processes.
At Cadent, we are committed to keeping people safe, warm and independent in their home. One cause especially close to our hearts is Dementia. That’s why our employee-chosen charity partner is Alzheimer’s Society. At the recent 1-year anniversary of the launch of Dementia Friendly Utilities (DFU), we co-hosted a roundtable event with Alzheimer’s Society to bring utility companies together to understand how good practices had developed since the original guide launch in 2018.
Outputs from the roundtable event resulted in several commitments from companies but importantly we took the action to develop an ‘innovation pipeline’ for cross-sector sponsorship, development and implementation of proposals which can support people living with Dementia(s) and those who care for them. Since then, we have worked closely with the NMCF Utility Working Group and EIC to gather and review innovation proposals on an ongoing basis. However, we are just at the beginning of our journey and we want as many of you to get involved as possible.
At last week’s workshop, we were joined by Alzheimer’s Society, along with RNIB and Carer’s Trust, to share some valuable insights to further develop delegates’ awareness of Dementia and how other needs might need to be considered when looking to create new products and services. After all, it is only by fully understanding the context of Dementia(s) that we can find and develop the solutions needed.
Delegates also had the chance to walk around mock-ups of a lounge, kitchen and bathroom as they considered and discussed cross-sector innovation ideas to enable people with Dementia(s) to stay living independently in their own homes and enjoy a better quality of life.
I look forward to seeing the exciting range of solutions our partners will propose and develop to support people living with Dementia(s). If you have an idea to help improve the lives of those living with Dementia and those who care for them, or want to find out more about how to submit ideas, visit
www.ukeic.com.