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Personal experience inspired Carol Sargent to found dementia specialist holiday company MindforYou. Katherine Lawrey learns her story, and picks up tips for selling to the market.
It was her personal experience of having a mother with vascular dementia and a mother-in-law with Alzheimer’s that inspired Carol Sargent to set up specialist holiday company MindforYou.
“My mother has had dementia for 10 years now, and my dad is her full-time carer. They used to visit us regularly, but as our family life became more chaotic and her journey with dementia progressed, I realised that visiting us was no longer as relaxing or enjoyable for either of them.”
Searching for a holiday home that would suit both her mother and father’s needs proved challenging. That is when Sargent hit on the idea to offer supported holidays for people living with dementia and their family carers. She rents dementia friendly holiday homes for short breaks, and takes up to five couples away at a time. The guests are predominantly husband and wives, and their age range is from the mid-60s to the early 90s.
Sargent takes her own staff – a minimum of two MYsupport workers for every two people living with dementia and one cook/housekeeper. They all have personal or professional experience of living with dementia.
She ran her first holiday in Norfolk in May 2015 and the venture has steadily grown, with the 14th holiday just completed. “We have a 90% excellent rating on our feedback forms, and over half of our guests in the first six months had already been on their second holiday. We have six couples who have been on three holidays and one couple has had six holidays with us,” she says. New staff have come onboard, so she can start to scale up the offer, including another leader, with a third undergoing training.
MindforYou staff visit all their guests before their holiday to collect information that will help them provide the correct support and to ensure their guests settle into their new environment. “We find out about things that are near and dear to them, jobs they have done, and hobbies they have. It means we can strike up conversation to make them feel at ease and earn their trust,” says Sargent.
The holidays are offered all over the UK and organised Monday to Friday – anything longer can make it hard to settle back into home life, and anything shorter makes it tricky to acclimatise to new surroundings.
Bespoke excursions are arranged for each holiday. “A couple wanted to go up the Heights of Abraham cable car in the Peak District so we took them. The week is tailored but nothing is forced. We will not make any guest do anything they don’t want to do.”
She describes it as an extended family environment: “Staff know when to step in, and when to leave guests to do their own thing.”
The benefits of a holiday to dementia patients and their carers is clear for Sargent. “We see couples return to being husband and wife. It’s easier to do when you have the time and patience to enjoy each other’s company and you don’t have to worry about the washing or the cleaning.”
She documents the transformation in candid photos taken over the course of week. “We see people smile and laugh more and changes in people’s stance,” she says. “They stand taller, they’re less hunched and tense.”
Sargent is also keen to capture any benefits she can in a scientific way to drive change on dementia benefits. She has already recorded a 30% reduction on the Caregiver Strain Index, and is writing a paper with Loughborough Unversity to submit to Dementia Care. “My personal goal is for people living with dementia to have access to vouchers to subsidise their holidays, in the same way that families of children with physical disabilities do.”
Although she is focused on looking after those living with dementia, she says it’s a business model that has much potential. “We’ve been asked about taking a patient with a brain trauma, but really we’re talking about any chronic illness where you have full-time carers, such as MS and Parkinson’s.”
She rules out developing holidays overseas: “Airports are the least dementia-friendly transport hub, and train stations can be challenging unless you have somebody to help you on and off the train who knows the station very well.”
From her own business growth perspective, she’s keen to talk to agents, because she sees the trade as gatekeepers to an untapped market: “Our guests tend to be people who have gone on regular holidays. When you know a client very well, and you notice they have stopped booking, if there is some indication they may be living with dementia, then it may be pertinent to introduce them to the idea of a more specialist holiday.”
It’s natural to be wary of causing offence, she says, but investing time in training can help alert you to the signs. “Dementia Friends training is a simple step that can give you an understanding of when it might be appropriate to talk about the benefits of a specialist holiday.”
Sargent and her team leaders are all Dementia Friends champions and they and other regional champions can provide free 45-60 minute interactive training sessions. She says that the biggest barrier is overcoming the idea that holidays are no longer an option once dementia is in the picture, especially if the last holiday was not a success. “A holiday may not be right for everyone living with dementia, but we would like people to know the option is still there.
The support we can provide, selecting the accommodation, organising the travel, planning the excursions, being on hand to deal with any anxieties, makes the whole experience so much more relaxing for than going by themselves.
“What we’re doing isn’t rocket science,” she adds. “But when you take the time to get to know people, and give them support, it makes a huge difference. By the end of the holiday week, when you see couples giggling and having fun together, you’d be hard pushed to tell who is living with dementia.”
Initially we thought we’d work with small family-run hotels and B&Bs,” says Sargent. “But it quickly became apparent that if we were to provide a consistent quality service, everyone involved needed personal or professional expertise of interacting with people with dementia so they would feel at ease. Traditional respite doesn’t always work for people with dementia. They don’t understand why they’re not in their normal home, and not with their family carer.” She vets every property in person but she says the online research is most timeconsuming as relevant information is often lacking: “A big issue is the toilet. If you’re not very good at remembering things, you need to be able to find the toilet easily, so en suites are essential.” “I also want to know about the shower and bath, as some of our clients have limited mobility or may be unaccustomed to using a walk-in shower or prefer a shower over bath.” “A floorplan helps show how easy the property is to navigate. For 10 guests, the houses need to be big, but we want them to have a standard homely layout rather than being a rabbit warren.” |
