Co-designing a Dementia Portal for Warwickshire and Coventry

Outcomes

Research has been undertaken on the experience of Portal users, to see whether it has made a difference to their lives. Feedback from people who have used it has been very positive, and people say it has helped them to make decisions and to feel more confident and well-informed. Warwickshire County Council plan to undertake a formal review of the Portal to fully understand impact on individuals.

The Portal has proved to be a useful tool for bringing together stakeholders locally to discuss shared aims and objectives about dementia, and to enable the delivery of local and national dementia strategies. For instance, in conjunction with Public Health Warwickshire additional content and self-help tools have recently been launched, directly aimed at the person with early stage dementia, These additional pages were co-produced with people with dementia. Warwickshire’s first ‘Living Well with Dementia’ conference, which took place in September 2013, led by Warwickshire County Council, showcased the strategy and the innovative work taking place locally.

As Tony Robinson suggests, the engagement of people affected by dementia in the consultation and design process has been worth the effort:

“This happened soon after Isobel passed away.  To me it was important that the views of current users should take priority. …It would have been a godsend seven years ago”. 

This case study was written by Katie Herbert and Tony Robinson in February 2014.