Dementia Centres of Excellence
In 2012, Staffordshire County Council invited bids for the
provision of two new Dementia centres of Excellence in
Staffordshire. Accord was successful in winning the bid
and the past few years have seen us work with the local
authority to deliver these services.
The first of these schemes, Amber Wood was completed
in November 2018 and the second, Bowbrook in Fradley
is under construction, and scheduled to open in the
summer of 2021.
Both schemes are designed around an innovative cluster
model and offer our customers the opportunity to live
within a small household setting. The design offers the
very best environment to support people with dementia
allowing them to make sense of their surroundings. Each
unit has only one front door and the space is divided
into lounge, dining, kitchen and bedroom spaces.
Older people with sight impairments or dementia need
lighting adequate for finding their way, particularly
in corridors, stairways and circulation points and
for identifying landmarks and possessions, pursuing
activities in their own rooms or in groups, resting and
relaxing.
Particular attention has been given to the outside
spaces and garden areas, providing aromatic herbs,
pungent and coniferous plants provide added interest,
particularly for people with sight impairments, who will
also enjoy handling plants with contrasting textures.
The model lends itself to dementia care delivery as
within the cluster model care and support is delivered
in a more “family” focused way, with all roles being
carried out by the people in the home. Throughout
this design process we engaged with the Dementia
Services Development centre D.S.D.C. at the University
of Stirling as one of our main KPI’s from the outset was
to secure Gold accreditation, and this we achieved.
The compliance is rigorous and as an Association to
have been awarded the Gold certification is a fantastic
achievement.
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