Chichester academics showcase groundbreaking results from The Sage House Model For Dementia Care

Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com 
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Visit Shots! now
The cost of UK dementia care is predicted to rise from £34.7 billion in 2019 to a staggering £94.1 billion by 2040. But now academics from the University of Chichester have shown that a dementia care model developed by a charity in West Sussex could reduce that cost by billions of pounds if replicated nationally, while raising care standards and quality of life.

Sage House by Dementia Support, which is based in Tangmere, West Sussex provides a comprehensive range of integrated services and partners under one roof, including advice, guidance, the NHS dementia assessment service, legal advice, activities, respite day care, and wellbeing services care.

Over 18 months, the University of Chichester’s Cognitive Ageing and Dementia Laboratory carried out an Academic Evaluation which concluded that the Sage House Model saved £1,722 per person each year when compared to the standard cost of care.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A presentation of the study’s findings took place in The Cloisters of the Bishop Otter campus at the University of Chichester yesterday lunchtime (September 10). It detailed how Sage House is already reducing the burden on NHS and social care and costing less to run than current services, while also improving life satisfaction and wellbeing for people living with dementia and their care partners.

Presentation of the Sage House Model for dementia carePresentation of the Sage House Model for dementia care
Presentation of the Sage House Model for dementia care

The Sage House Model is now available for replication across the UK, in partnership with Dementia Support, for the benefit of all communities. With 944,000 people currently living with dementia in the UK, and the number predicted to reach more than 1.6 million by 2040, it has the potential to save the government billions over the coming years.

In addition to saving money, the academic evaluation showed that:

· - 61% of people accessing Sage House agreed that it had helped them or their Care Partners to continue working.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

· - People living with dementia who had access to Sage House experienced significantly greater Life Satisfaction (20% higher), Wellbeing (16%) and Quality of Life (10%) than the standard care model.

Academics from the University of Chichester demonstrate their findingsAcademics from the University of Chichester demonstrate their findings
Academics from the University of Chichester demonstrate their findings

· - Care partners with access to Sage House demonstrated better access to information and support which led to a significantly greater Quality of Life.

The presentation of the study’s findings was led by Prof. Antonina Pereira, Director of the Institute of Psychology, Business and Human Sciences at the University of Chichester, as well as Dr Rachel King and Dr Ben Sharpe, both of whom are Post Doctoral Researchers in the Cognitive Ageing and Dementia Laboratory.

Interested members of the local authority, NHS decision makers, potential funders and donors, as well as trustees of Dementia Support were in attendance to hear the findings.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The Sage House Model has been developed to support other regions which want to improve dementia care and support. Organisations in Berkshire, Hampshire and neighbouring East Sussex are already interested in replicating the model.

To find out more, visit nap.dementiasupport.org.uk

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.

Follow us
©National World Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.Cookie SettingsTerms and ConditionsPrivacy notice