The Senior Helpers of Spring Hill Virtual Dementia Tour in partnership with Second Wind Dreams
We aim to help educate the community and raise the level of dementia awareness and empathy so that people understand that seniors living with dementia are really living with debilitating conditions that would make any of our lives difficult.
(PRWEB) July 13, 2015
Senior Helpers® of Spring Hill, the local operation of one of the nation’s largest in-home senior care companies, announced today it is partnering with the international non-profit Second Wind Dreams® to bring its flagship Virtual Dementia Tour® to Florida on Thursday, July 16th at The Residence at Timber Pines, also in Spring Hill. Second Wind Dreams is dedicated to changing the perception of aging by offering educational aging sensitivity trainings that include its flagship Virtual Dementia Tour.
The Virtual Dementia Tour is an interactive program for the public that allows people to gain awareness of and empathy for those who live with dementia by allowing them to experience just a few minutes of life with simulated dementia symptoms that make everyday communication and activity difficult.
Glen J. Scharfeld, the owner of Senior Helpers of Spring Hill, advocated for the purchase of a 40-foot, state-of-the-art travel trailer that has been converted into the Virtual Dementia Tour. The trailer’s interior is set up like an average home into which people enter and are equipped with special devices that mimic changes in hearing, vision, fine motor skills and other symptoms. Scharfeld hopes that by inviting the community to participate in the Virtual Dementia Tour, people will become more aware of the hardships that seniors cope with when living with dementia.
“This is our first year partnering with Second Wind Dreams to bring this amazing Virtual Dementia Tour to the public. We aim to help educate the community and raise the level of dementia awareness and empathy so that people understand that seniors living with dementia are really living with debilitating conditions that would make any of our lives difficult,” said Scharfeld.
Senior Helpers chose the Virtual Dementia Tour due to its highly regarded reputation among senior care communities. Created by P.K. Beville, a former Geriatrics Specialist who went on to found Second Wind Dreams, the Virtual Dementia Tour is designed to help caregiving facilities and community organizations identify with and understand Alzheimer’s and dementia patients' behaviors and needs. The tour has been experienced by more than 1.2 million people in 17 countries and has been implemented in over one thousand healthcare facilities in the U.S., Canada, and the UK in 2014 alone. It has also been used in over 200 colleges and universities as an addition to existing curriculum.
Residents of Spring Hill and surrounding communities are welcomed to RSVP to participate in the tour by calling Senior Helpers of Spring Hill at (813) 712-9058. The Tour will be located at The Residence at Timber Pines at 3140 Forest Road, Spring Hill, FL 34606 and opens at 9:00 AM on Thursday, July 16th, 2015.
