Bournemouth set for dementia-friendly improvements

Families of patients with dementia often believe they would not be safe on a holiday or day trip and find it easier to keep them at home.

However, the new Dementia Institute at Bournemouth University hopes to change all this by re-launching Bournemouth as a dementia-friendly tourist destination.

Professor Anthea Innes is leading the initiative, which has been encouraged by the government's pledge to create 20 dementia-friendly cities, towns and villages in the UK by 2015.

"Our aim is to see how tourism can respond to the needs of people with dementia and their carers and find out if and why they haven't been able to access tourist attractions and leisure facilities," she explained.

After initial consultations with patients and carers, plans in place include training all police and staff in certain roles in how to treat people with dementia and installing safe cashpoints designed with patients in mind.

Professor Innes hopes to expand the research internationally in the near future.

Read more about Barchester's dementia care homes.