Vulnerable adults are set to benefit from new partnership scheme

Health care professionals from Avon and Wiltshire Mental health Partnership (AWP) have joined forces to streamline mental health care for people living with dementia in Swindon.

In a collaborative new venture, Swindon's CIT (Complex Intervention and Treatment) team and Swindon Borough Council have opened the Swindon ARC (Adult Resource Centre) on Whitbourne Avenue Swindon. Whitbourne House, a residential care home in Park South, opened its doors yesterday to Swindon's CIT team offering support for social and care workers, and adults living with mental issues including dementia and Alzheimer's. Since 2016 Swindon Borough Council, who are proprietors of Whitbourne House, and Swindon's CIT team have been forging a partnership to integrate the local community and local practices working within the public health sector, who were invited to the opening of the ARC along with the Mayor of Swindon Cllr Maureen Penny. CIT Team Manager and former nurse, Sara Ross, said: "We'll be running a range of services including a Carer's Cafe which opens next week, community groups for people with mental ilnesses, hosting a weekly dementia day, running 'Think Again' sessions which supports people with dementia as well as their families, and a training scheme which is designed to assist and train local care workers to identify symptoms of early onset dementia. "It's been a really great learning curve for all of us, and I can't wait to get on with it and start. This is all about the collaboration between service users and carers, us, and Swindon Borough Council. It's about getting everyone in the same room and supporting each other where everyone's represented - I'm so pleased with the turnout." CIT's Senior Practitioner, Michelle Curr, added: "It's lovely to have a mixture of staff, patients, and the local community here, all coming together - that's what it's all about. "When we first came here it looked like a storeroom. Everyone's been working tirelessly to renovate it, but it's cost next to nothing - everything's been donated." "Our next mission is to develop a crisis service for people with dementia, as we really need this in Swindon. And all the services are free, including the room, with donations greatly appreciated." For further information, visit www.awp.nhs.uk