By Heather Edwards, AHP Consultant, Improvement Support Team (Portfolio: Dementia, Frailty and Palliative and End of Life Care)

There are almost 90,000 people living with dementia in Scotland and it is essential that we support each one of them to live the best quality life possible. At the Care Inspectorate we are committed to ensuring that quality of life for people is not limited due to lack of expectations of what it means to be an older person living with dementia.

Scotland’s network of dementia ambassadors, run by the Scottish Social Services Council, plays a key role in challenging these expectations and supporting people living with dementia to live well. There are around 850 active ambassadors right across Scotland working in a range of care settings who promote best practice and support colleagues in their knowledge of working with people living with dementia.

Dementia ambassadors work in a diverse range of health and social care settings including care homes, day care, care at home and housing support services. There are also ambassadors working in educational settings such as colleges. Each of these ambassadors has volunteered to develop his or her skills as part of the Promoting Excellence learning framework, which defines the knowledge, skills and values that workers must hold to improve the experience of care and support for those people living with dementia, their families and carers.

Tangible improvements
This programme of volunteer ambassadors was created in 2012 and today we have ambassadors in every local authority area across Scotland working to improve knowledge and skills. The results of their work has shown tangible improvements to people’s lives. For example, we recently published the report My Life, my care home (The experiences of people living with dementia in care homes in Scotland) which examined the extent to which the Standards of Care for Dementia are having an impact on the lives of people living with dementia in care homes. We found that the care homes which graded better on the dementia standard “I have the right to carers who are well supported and educated about dementia” had a higher number of dementia ambassadors compared to those who did not.
It was encouraging to see from this report that the majority of staff were given opportunities to develop their skills and knowledge so they can best support people living with dementia.

Role models
There is always the challenge of carrying over learning into everyday practice, and it is here that I have seen dementia ambassadors do some fantastic work. They act as role models for new staff just starting out on a career in care as well as motivators who inspire colleagues who may be experienced but feel the need for fresh ideas.

Dementia ambassadors are an incredible force for change. They are the ones to keep dementia learning alive and relevant to their peers, bringing in new ideas and sharing best practice. I know many dementia ambassadors really engaged with the Kings Fund EHE tool in looking at the care home environment, making sure that lighting levels were good enough and that colour contrasts were used to promote independence, as well as reducing barriers for good mobility.

It is important that we continue to challenge expectations of what is considered ‘good enough’ in supporting each person living with dementia so we can ensure they experience truly person-centred care and live an inclusive and meaningful life. It has been particularly encouraging to see dementia ambassadors embracing palliative end of life learning and development, and supporting the person with dementia at all stages of their dementia experience. I look forward to seeing how this develops in the future and to sharing stories from care.