Living Well with Dementia Stillorgan-Blackrock is one of 4 pilot projects, supported by Genio Trust, that are developing new services and supports to people affected by dementia.

These projects, representing 4 different geographical locations, are working to identify, mobilise and develop community-based supports with the aim of enabling people with dementia to remain at home living full lives.

Each project is comprised of a consortium of people and organisations.

Eilis Hession, Manager of Services for Older People, HSE Dun Laoghaire, formed the consortium which devised and developed the Living Well with Dementia Project in the Stillorgan-Blackrock community. It is comprised of people with dementia, their primary carers, wider families and individuals from the local community including volunteers, business-people, health care professionals and representatives from statutory and Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs). Other groups will be asked to participate as the project evolves.

Eilis Hession leads the project, supported by Bridget Doyle, the Project Manager.

Madeleine Clarke (Director, Genio Trust), Tom Joyce (An Cathaoirleach, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown) and Eilis Hession (Project Lead and Manager of Services for Older People HSE Dun Laoghaire) at the launch of the Living Well with Dementia Project in August 2012.

About the Genio Dementia Programme

Genio is an independent, non-profit organisation based in Ireland driven by a vision of a society that benefits by valuing all of its citizens. Genio brings together Government and philanthropy to help develop and scale cost-effective, citizen-centred services so that everyone has the chance to live full lives in their communities. In 2012 Genio received funding from the Atlantic Philanthropies and the HSE to develop and test new service models which would improve the range and quality of community-based supports for people with dementia; to influence public policy and investment in this area; and to build the leadership in the field that is necessary in order to capitalise on the potential of the proposed National Dementia Strategy. Four consortium-led projects in Cork, Dublin, Mayo and Tipperary were selected and awarded grants in 2012 to develop community-based supports over a 3-year period. A further 8 projects have been supported through the Genio Dementia Programme since the end of 2013 focussing on the design and demonstration of effective integrated care pathways in the acute hospital sector and the development of individualised supports in the community for people who are more advanced on the dementia journey. This collaborative effort between the Office for Older People, the Department of Health, the Health Service Executive, and Genio, supported by the Atlantic Philanthropies, will inform emerging policy and resource reconfiguration in the development of dementia services. For further information about Genio and its development of dementia services, please go to www.genio.ie