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Pabulum News
Two new initiatives from Pabulum
Pabulum Cafe
Pabulum Blue Book
2008 will see two new exciting initiatives within the Pabulum Project:
Pabulum Cafe
For people with dementia and their carers the issues commonly highlighted are loneliness, isolation and a lack of opportunities to speak to others in similar situations to themselves.
Ever wanting to improve the service provision to the people with dementia and their carers, the Pabulum Project will open two Pabulum Cafes within
A range of services, drawing upon Age Concern Norfolk’s substantial experience of delivering information, advice, advocacy and other care services and having the additional strength of partnership working with other agencies, bringing specialist knowledge and support as required will be available.The Cafe concept is based on a variation on the work of Dutch psychologists, Miesen and Blom[1] who established the first Alzheimer’s Cafe in 1997 as a forum in which people with dementia, their carers, family and professionals could come together to share experiences, offer support and learn.Our Pabulum Cafes are looking at a variation that is more applicable to our regional needs.
Meetings will be held monthly, always on a fixed day. In general, there will be 10 Dementia Cafes a year, avoiding the holiday seasons.Regular reports will be posted to this site keeping you informed on progress, dates and venues.
The Blue Book
Variety and stimulation are very important for people with dementia but too many changes can be confusing and a regular routine will help feelings of security and make it easier for the person to remember what usually happens during the day, contributing to a feeling of well-being.
The recognition of the gap between the function of our Life Story Book and a professional Care Plan resulted in the design of the Pabulum Blue Book.
The Blue Book is more personal than the Life Story Book and contains useful information for caring professionals and nursing staff. It is not a care plan; it helps us understand the routines in the day to day living of the person with dementia. The Blue Book therefore does not mention any medical conditions and or medical requirements.
The Pabulum Blue Book has to be of good quality; it requires a certain Wow factor for making people to read and use it. It comes in two versions; the padded version has the pages inserted in sleeves with spare pages at the end of the book. This design would particular suit people for whom managing routines becomes more challenging. The other more basic design can be used by respite centres, residential homes and hospitals where the carer can fill in the information on the spot if necessary.
Talks
The Pabulum Project will come out to groups, agencies and organisation to talk about:
- Life Story Book work.
- The Pabulum Blue Book and its use.
- Dementia awareness,
- “Why do I act and react like this”, a practical awareness session.
[1] “The Alzheimer’s Cafe – a guideline for setting one up”, from the original “Handleiding Alzheimer Cafe” by Biere Miesen and Marco Blom, translated and adapted by Gemma Jones.