Carer academy launched to support families caring for loved ones living with dementia in Angus

A carer academy to support and educate people caring for loved ones with dementia has launched in Angus.

The Alzheimer Scotland Centre for Policy and Practice (ASCPP) Carers’ Academy programme was first rolled out in 2018 in Lanarkshire, with hubs now operational in Dumfries and Ayr.

But the academy has now been rolled out north of the central belt for the first time.

An estimated 90,000 people in Scotland live with dementia and responsibility for their care often falls to loved ones.

Helen Christie, who lives in Brechin, was one of the first people to attend the Angus Carers’ Academy.

She signed up after her husband, Ed, developed dementia alongside living with Parkinson’s disease.

“He’s had Parkinson’s for a few years. Last year he started to do things, forget things,” she said.

“There is a worry about what’s going to happen. I’ve obviously got worries about how it’s going to affect him.”

An estimated 90,000 people in Scotland have dementia and caring responsibilities typically fall to a loved one.

Dr Anna Jack-Waugh, strategic lead for the carers’ academy, explains: “The carers’ academy is an opportunity for family carers of people with dementia to receive quite detailed education about what dementia is and ways of how they can support themselves and each other.”

Helen says she still keeps in contact with people she met at the academy.

“Meeting up with other people was what I liked about it,” she said.

“You met up with other people, and although I was the only one who had a husband with dementia and Parkinson’s, you could relate to them.”