Bluebird Care Kilkenny recently provided some fundraising for their local Alzheimer’s Association. This was based on the total score in the All Ireland Hurling Final where Bluebird Care contributed €10 per point scored and Michael Fennelly who just received the GAA GPA Hurler of the year award was on hand to present the cheque for €420.
Managing Director of Bluebird Care Kilkenny Brian Egan commented ‘Bluebird Care provide Care for people with a range of different needs throughout Ireland and so work with a lot of people who suffer with Dementia and Alzheimer’s. We see the great work being done by the Alzheimers Association locally so we are glad to be able to help out with some fundraising for them.’

The Bluebird Care Waterford/Kilkenny office has scheduled two Dementia Training workshops for all Care Staff . The training will be provided by Deirdre Lenihan of DML Nursing Services. Deirdre has more than 20 years experience in Care of the Elderly, Dementia and Challenging Behaviours in both the private and public healthcare sectors.

Training is a key focus area for Care staff in Bluebird Care and the Dementia training follows on from the very successful Disability Awareness training workshops which took  place recently. Training and upskilling of staff is hugely important and ensures that carers are competent and confident when providing Care in the home, according to Brian Egan the Managing Director of the Bluebird Care Waterford/Kilkenny office.  Brian continued to say that ‘The Dementia training is just one module of our continuous training programme but its a very important area so hopefully all staff will benefit from it’ . There are currently more than 44,000 people in Ireland with dementia, with the number expected to be in excess of 104,000 by 2036 unless there is a medical breakthrough so it is important that Care Staff can have the opportunity to increase their knowledge in this area.