Coventry City lend support to University Hospital's new Forget-Me-Not campaign to raise awareness of dementia
Coventry City players Joe Murphy and Franck Moussa have taken time out to learn about and raise awareness of a new initiative to enhance the care of patients with dementia.
As part of UHCW NHS Trust’s Forget-Me-Not campaign, which aims to improve the care of older people and people with dementia, the Trust is introducing sky blue coloured pillow cases to enable all staff to identify patients with dementia and those with difficulty with communication.
The two Sky Blues stars met the team who support older patients with confusion and dementia at University Hospital, Coventry, and spent the afternoon taking part in stimulating and interactive activities which are organised daily for patients with dementia.
Tracey Chapman, Clinical Nurse Specialist for patients with dementia, said: “It was great that Joe and Franck came in to help raise awareness of this new initiative and spend time with our patients.
“The sky blue pillow case is a discreet way for staff to identify patients with dementia and confusion and to remind them that these patients may need more of their time and patience. UHCW has a long history of practices designed to raise standards of care for those with dementia and confusion. We hope to roll out the sky blue pillow case initiative to all wards in University Hospital, Coventry and the Hospital of St Cross, Rugby in the next six months and we hope this enables us to raise standards of care even more.”
Goalkeeper Murphy said: “When we first received the request to come and support this initiative we were very keen to be part of it. Not only are the pillow cases aptly named but with dementia affecting so many people’s lives it is wonderful to see that loved ones can rest assured that their relatives are getting the best care possible. The nurses at UHCW who we met were so warm and committed to improving the hospital stay for patients with dementia.”
Moussa added: “Both Joe and I didn’t know much about dementia before our visit, but we realise now that this affects many people’s lives. It was great to see how the nurses and activity co-ordinators interact with patients with dementia and treat them as individuals.”