World Alzheimer’s Day & Culturally Sensitive Care with Curam
World Alzheimer’s Day is an international awareness day, designed to raise awareness and reduce the stigma of Alzheimer’s and dementia. It is an opportunity for those impacted by Alzheimer’s and their communities to come together to highlight the challenges of the condition and call for better care practices, research and education.
Alzheimer’s is a degenerative neurological disease, which over time causes a decline in patients’ cognitive abilities, affecting memory, thinking and behaviour.
“In its advanced stages it can severely impact a person’s ability to communicate, so person-centric care, especially in linguistically diverse contexts, must be prioritised to maintain dignity and quality of life,” says Curam COO Patrick Wallace.
Supporting Alzheimer’s patients with specialist care
Curam is a CQC regulated online agency and marketplace, which connects care users with experienced and vetted Care Professionals. The Curam platform allows clients to filter Care Professionals based on care type, location, language skills or specialist expertise, such as dementia care. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia, accounting for up to 80% of cases.
Patrick is one of the three Co-Founders at Curam, who met at Trinity College Dublin in the 1980s. Now, Patrick is the father of two grown-up boys and he works in London, where he deals with all compliance and regulatory matters at Curam and heads up the B2C side of the company.
“With the UK facing a shortage of trained Care Professionals, our goal is to ensure better care outcomes and prevent people from going without care or facing delayed hospital discharge, which can be detrimental to health,” says Patrick. “We have made huge strides towards achieving this since we launched, delivering over 5m hours of quality care across the UK.”
Why increasing care choices is essential for Alzheimer’s patients from international backgrounds
Putting choice and control in the hands of patients is essential for those from international backgrounds, as many will lose the ability to speak their second language, reverting to their mother tongue. For these individuals, being able to communicate with a Care Professional who speaks their language and understands cultural norms becomes critical as otherwise, patients may experience frustration, anxiety or isolation, which can worsen symptoms. This choice ensures that patients feel understood, respected, and in touch with their community, reducing distress and improving outcomes in Alzheimer’s care.
“Culturally sensitive care starts by putting a person’s background at the centre of their care plan. As well as prioritising shared language, cultural understanding is important as patients will benefit from someone who can anticipate their needs intuitively based on shared norms, traditions and values,” Patrick shares.
To create a culturally competent care system, he believes that the healthcare sector needs to move beyond the traditional one-size-fits-all model of care agencies and embed choice and control into the system, offering patients and families the ability to easily find Care Professionals based on linguistic, cultural and clinical needs.
“This will help foster trust, reduce social isolation and create more compassionate and respectful environments,” he explains. “To advance beyond the care agency system’s pitfalls, we must use technology to unlock a patient-centred care approach.”
Digital marketplaces allow families and care providers to easily filter for specific criteria such as language or experience with dementia care, increasing accessibility to Care Professionals uniquely suited to individual needs.
“Curam’s platform, for example, has nearly 5,000 Care Professionals who speak multiple languages, with 30 foreign languages between them,” Patrick adds.
These platforms make the process of finding Care Professionals more streamlined, giving both private clients and public sector organisations greater control over who provides care.
“This not only improves patient outcomes but also frees up resources for care providers to focus on delivering higher-quality care,” he adds. “The power of technology lies in its ability to break down barriers and is the key to ensuring that culturally appropriate care is provided for all Alzheimer’s patients as their condition progresses.”
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