AN ELECTRICITY distributor is continuing progress towards becoming a dementia-friendly business.

UK Power Networks - which keeps the lights on in London, the South East and East Anglia - is marking World Alzheimer’s Month by offering all 6,000 staff the opportunity to learn more about dementia.

More than 750 managers have undertaken the awareness programme and the next stage will see lessons filtered down to staff through discussion groups and information packs.

These outline five key messages about dementia, including correcting some popular misconceptions about the condition, as well as providing access to a range of supporting videos.

While the emphasis is on providing the best customer service to people living with dementia and their families and carers, a number of staff have already indicated the training has also helped them on a personal level away from the workplace.

Bill Blackburn, an operations manager at UK Power Networks, outlined how becoming a dementia friend has helped him gain a greater appreciation and understanding of members of his extended family who live with the condition.

Bill, who works in Lewes, said: “My aunt and uncle on my late mother’s side have dementia. My aunt has had it for seven or eight years and in more recent years my uncle has had it also.

“Becoming a dementia friend has made a huge difference to me personally and given me a much greater understanding of how to engage with the family members affected.

“One of the videos gives the analogy of a bookcase where older books towards the bottom are recalled more easily than any detail of newer books at the top.

With this in mind, when I last visited my aunt and uncle I took a collection of old family photographs along.

“I was there for a few hours and my uncle was really responding to the images and the happy memories they were provoking.”