Online help for carers of dementia sufferers

In the East Riding, the numbers affected by the disease are expected to double to more than 8,000 by 2025.

A 2m research project is introducing an interactive system which helps carers work with depressed and agitated sufferers without using powerful – and damaging – anti-psychotic drugs.

The system has been developed over more than a year and will be trialled in at least 50 care homes, amongst up to 600 carers.

With high turnover of staff in the homes, lessons learned in normal training sessions are often quickly lost, while the Internet-based system is a resource carers can use at any time.

The study, called Challenge Demcare, is funded by the National Institute of Health Research and led by Professor Esme Moniz-Cook, consultant clinical psychologist at Humber NHS Foundation Trust and honorary professor of clinical psychology and ageing at the Hull York Medical School.

Prof Moniz-Cook said: "This programme is to help people so they don't get agitated and depressed and aggressive and staff don't need to go to the doctor and get anti-psychotics which actually reduce survival rates.

"It's about ensuring that people get the medical checks they need which because of the delirium is not always apparent and it's about teaching staff to actually communicate with the person with dementia. It's also about getting systems organised so that care homes are set up in the right way.

"Carers can ask questions and get suggestions. We are not trying to make them doctors, nurses or psychologists but to get the base knowledge right and give us the information so they can get support from outside services."