Staff at all three of the specialist care homes in Somerset run by White Care Group have been undergoing bespoke training to help them better understand what it feels like to be a person living with dementia.

Bonnie Frear, quality assurance manager for the organisation, said: "As soon as we heard about the DIVE training – short for dementia immersive virtual experience – we knew we wanted to try it. And it's been a revelation - one of the most impactful training experiences we've provided for our teams.

"My colleagues and I have decades of dementia care experience between us, but the aim of this training from CareVista is to help you gain a deeper understanding of what it may feel like to live with dementia, and how changes in memory, communication, perception and the environment can influence a person's everyday experiences.

"There's no one-size-fits-all strategy that can be rolled out when it comes to dementia care. There are many kinds of dementia and they affect people differently.

"And although we were already aware of that, Paul Boult, who runs the DIVE programme, put us through our paces in a way that really brought the experience of dementia to life.

"The immersive part of our training involved being kitted out in equipment that affected our senses like sight and hearing.

"This kind of distortion of normality is very much what many of our residents have to live with every day, and it goes a long way towards explaining why people with dementia might act unpredictably or be unusually emotional, upset or angry, and how triggering certain noises might be.

"We only had to endure it for nine minutes at a time – which everyone felt was plenty long enough - and were each then given the chance to reflect on the experience with Paul and one of our own colleagues.

"It was powerful - a real eye-opener which gave us a deeper appreciation of how unpredictably a person living with dementia might perceive the world.

"Many of our staff reflected on how thought-provoking and eye-opening the experience was, with comments like: 'it showed how hard it must be to be living with dementia'.

Bonnie said: "The teaching sessions were exceptionally well structured, with Paul demonstrating a clear depth of knowledge while keeping everything engaging and accessible: he has an amazing ability to explain complex concepts in a way that truly resonated with staff.

"Feedback from my colleagues has been overwhelmingly positive, and it's evident that what stood out most was the powerful insight the training gave into what it must feel like to live with dementia and, most importantly, they're already applying what they've learned to improve their day-to-day practice and enhance the quality of life for our residents."

Paul Boult said: "It was clear from the very first day that Bonnie and her team were listening intently and I learned that within days they'd ordered equipment to make life easier for residents, such as plates that contrast in colour with the food on them to stop it visually 'disappearing'.

"Reviewing matters with them a couple of months on, I can see their progress continues, reflecting great quality of care and good management – all very reassuring for residents' loved ones."

CareVista provides bespoke training and consultancy for the health, social care and housing charitable sector across the South West, for both privately owned and not-for-profit organisations, as well as for volunteers and family members of people living with dementia.

White Care Group is a family-owned dementia care provider which runs St Benedicts Nursing Home in Glastonbury, St Cecilia Care Home in Shepton Mallet and The Rectory Care Home in Taunton.