News and Events

Launch of Bournemouth University Dementia Institute

21 May 2012

Health care professionals, NHS workers, local councillors and members of the public attend the launch of BU’s Dementia Institute.

Bournemouth University Dementia Institute (BUDI) was launched on 16 May at an event at the Executive Business Centre which was attended by health care professionals, NHS workers, local councillors and members of the public whose lives have been affected by dementia.

Speaking at the launch, Anthea Innes, Director of BUDI said that one of the driving forces for creating the institute was to help promote high quality support and care for people with dementia and their families in a region that has the lowest rate of dementia diagnosis, despite having one of highest proportion of older people in the country.

Professor Tim McIntyre-Bhatty, Deputy Vice-Chancellor opened the launch event, saying the work BUDI will do is very important for the University as is a great example of society-led research. “It’s really important that we understand the context of the country and the way the demographic is changing so that we can support people in health and wellbeing throughout their lives.”

BUDI will conduct service evaluation, training and education, consultancy and engage in high quality research. Professor Innes said that family carers of people with dementia save the NHS £8 billion a year, which is one of the reasons why BUDI will explore person-centred care and support for the whole family.

Issues discussed at the end of the opening meeting included the difficulty of getting a GP to refer a patient to the memory clinic, specialist care home selection for dementia patients, and learning how to be a good carer from health professionals.

Professor Innes spoke about trying to make Dorset a “dementia-friendly holiday destination”.

“We really want to create a more dementia-friendly region, where people can be attracted to come on holiday, so we have a dementia friendly tourism project we have just started.”

Councillor Blair Crawford, cabinet member for Adult Social Care said he had two poignant reasons for attending the BUDI launch: “Within Bournemouth Borough Council I have the portfolio for adult social care, which includes many people who will have dementia, so I think for me to understand that and the various services is very important.”

Councillor Crawford continued, “from a personal point of view my father is in the early stages of dementia. He has been having some severe memory loss issues, so it’s been really useful for me to know everything I need to know in order to get him a proper diagnosis.”