Aged Care Insite Issue 107 | Jun-Jul 2018 | Page 11

news Dementia friendly bank SA bank trains employees to help customers with dementia carry out their everyday transactions. A South Australian bank has been working to support people with dementia to remain financially independent for as long as possible. BankSA teamed up with Dementia Australia to make banking safer, easier and more accessible for people with dementia and to become the first bank in the state to be recognised as dementia friendly. Nick Reade, chief executive of BankSA, said it is increasingly important that customers with dementia are able to continue to manage their finances for as long as possible. “BankSA branch teams have been trained to identify the signs of dementia and create a more comfortable experience and help reduce any stress or anxiety a customer may feel when doing their everyday banking. “Additionally, should a customer or their carer let us know, we can identify, record and maintain the files of a customer with dementia to ensure a greater level of support.” Branch manager Denise Brown said her division has already worked with several regular customers living with dementia to improve their banking experience. “For example, we have a customer who started coming into th