Aughamore Day Care Centre’s amazing services to those living with Alzheimer’s
FOUNDED 30 years ago and now in their new stunning location since 2017 the Aughamore Day Care Centre offers a friendly but hugely professional approach to help people living with dementia and their families.
Run under the auspices of the Alzheimer’s Society of Ireland, the day care centre near Carraroe is a spacious welcoming oasis of activity and laughter where attentive staff engage with up to 20 clients every day.
Clair Culkin, Nurse Manager at Aughamore, has been in that position since the newly revamped building opened its doors in 2017. Previously it had operated out of the old school in Dunally.
From Dromore West, Clair is understandably proud of the services she and a dedicated team of professional staff offer to the clients.
The carers who work with Clair during the week are Helen, Nuala, Monica, Maureen and Rebecca.
“Our approach could be best described as professional but friendly. Our work is all about activity and brain stimulation,” she told the Sligo Weekender.
She explains what they try to achieve for the people whose family carers bring them for a 10am start and a busy day which runs until 3pm:
“It is a fun day for the client with lots of activity.
“We base the activities on what the people like to do.
“There is a care plan made for everybody, we try to organise the activities on a daily basis in accordance with what people want to do and the individual care plans.”
Music is popular with many of the clients, so some activities are based around music. Art classes are also popular and many love to bake. Colouring and puzzles are just some of the other activities enjoyed.
The Aughamore centre is in the Carraroe area, close to the Holy Well. There are five carers working at the centre and Katherine working in administration.
The centre is in a lovely, quiet, peaceful location, very relaxed with the mountains close by. There is beautiful scenery, and it is a nice quiet location, a very suitable place for a dementia-specific day care centre like this.
Work started last year on a sensory garden which will be completed and officially opened this summer. There is seating in the grounds of the centre where people can enjoy their time outside when the weather allows.
BUSY MORNINGS
The morning time is busy with clients arriving from across Sligo, many of them via a bus service provided by the centre. The main bus driver is Fabian and relief drivers are Charlie and Hugh, all of them popular with the clients.
While many use the bus service, others arrive with their family carers and activities get underway immediately.
Clair explains the importance of the service to the carers as well as the clients: “It’s a place where a person living with dementia can come and be very comfortable, very relaxed and have a fun-filled, enjoyable day.
“The family carer can leave their loved one with us at 10am, they have the day free until 3pm to allow them to spend some time to themselves.
“It’s a respite day for the family carer and they can do whatever they wish and know their loved one is well cared for by us.
“It works both ways, it works for the person living with dementia, but it also works for the family carer.”
Two other people are involved in the Cognitive Stimulation Club, known as the ‘Cogs Club’ - Rachel and Nora, Rachel is Cogs Club coordinator while Nora is a carer. The Cogs Club runs every Friday from 10am to 3pm.
OTHER SERVICES
Centre. This takes place every Friday. These are the only two day care centres which are dementia-specific in County Sligo.
Bernadette Keenan runs the centre in Easkey where she is the manager. She also works in Aughamore in a role known as ‘Coordinator for Day Care at Home and Home Care’ a service they provide in people’s homes.
This is where a carer can go to a home once a week for three hours. It’s based on the same principle, carer respite and activity for the person with dementia. That’s one of the services they provide.
They also have social clubs in Skreen Dromard Community Centre and in Rathcormac Old School. These are run on alternate Wednesdays. Erin coordinates those social clubs. These are clubs where the person with dementia can come with the family carer. It runs in the afternoon for two hours and it is activity based. Again, a fun afternoon, a social outing for the carer and the person living with dementia.
They run a support group once a month for family carers who can come and meet up as a group of carers. This is an outlet where the carers can come, meet people like themselves going through the same experiences and compare and share experiences and just have a chat. Debby is the coordinator of this service.
They also have an information cafe once a month in the Sligo Park Hotel where a speaker talks on a topic related to dementia.
If anyone needs more information on any of the services offered, Clair is happy to take a call on this number: 085 8720043. From there she will direct callers to the person that they need to speak to if they need more information on any of the services offered for people with dementia.
FUNDING
The centre does get some financial funding from the HSE, but funds raised by volunteers and donations made to the centre are vital.
Clair explains: “We welcome all donations and all fundraisers. If we didn’t have fundraising and donations, we wouldn’t be able to run the services.
Clair mentions the fantastic support from the Sligo Park Hotel who were their charity partners last year. “We received a lot of money from them through that. They held fundraising events, and the money came to us.”
Aurivo have chosen the Alzheimer’s Society as their charity partner for Connacht this year.
Money raised from fundraisers is very varied, most recently they received €1,500 from Sligo Flower Club’s gala night while they were contacted by a man who will raise funds for them doing the Liffey Descent on May 11. A recently held craft fair also generated welcome funding, Clair said, as she thanked those individuals and families who have helped them.
GREAT FEEDBACK
Clair says the response they get from families of those with Alzheimer’s is very positive. “The families are very thankful for what we do. It means such a lot to them that they have one day to themselves each week. They really appreciate what we do.
“When the person receiving the care leaves here with a smile on their face it means we have done a good job and we know that the carer picking them up is happy too - it is a nice feeling to know we can help the client and the carer, that’s what we want to do.”
Different people avail of the service every day. In some cases, depending on the needs of the person and the ‘carer burden’ they may take a person for two days each week. A minimum of 20 people per day can be cared for which means that between fifty and sixty people per week are availing of the service.
A measure of how popular the services offered is the fact there is a waiting list for all of the services offered.
MAJOR FUNDRAISERS IN MAY
They will hold some of their major fundraisers for the year in the next few weeks. One is a tea day, on Thursday, May 2 in Aughamore Day Care Centre from 2pm to 4pm. On May 3 they hold a tea day in the Easkey Primary Care Centre from 1pm to 3pm.
On Saturday, May 4 the tea day is held in Skreen Dromard Community Centre from 12 noon to 3pm.
In September a Memory Walk is also held. The tea days and the September event are the major fundraising events held by the Alzheimer’s Society every year.
Clair says they are always looking for volunteers and anyone willing to volunteer is asked to make contact with her.
“We have some volunteers who help us with some of the services and we would welcome more,” she says.
Run under the auspices of the Alzheimer’s Society of Ireland, the Aughamore Day Care Centre is a remarkable place where remarkable people do fantastic work.
If you want to find out more about the services offered there, call Clair on 085 8720043.