Memory Clinics is a walk-in proactive service on the high street that champions the maintenance of mental acuity and acts as a trustworthy monitoring facility.
In the UK there has been little significant change in the management of dementia over the last 50 years. There are around 100 NHS funded Memory Clinics in the UK - outpatient-based services manned by psychiatrists and psychiatric nurses, who help in the assessment of memory problems and assist in diagnosis and treatment. Access to these Clinics is by referral from a GP once a patient presents with symptoms but there is an urgent need to encourage everyone to engage with cognitive decline earlier to delay the point where our powers decline so much that it triggers drastic change.
The design team propose a new organisation under the banner of Memory Clinics, with a remit to drive a preventative approach to memory loss and treat our memory in the way we do our eyes or body with regular checkups and exercise.
Memory Clinics would be a proactive walk-in high street service that extends the work of existing memory clinics by providing checkups and advice. It would increase healthcare capacity, reduce waiting lists and improve accessibility. The general public as well as those suffering from dementia and their carers would be encouraged to have bi-annual or monthly visits. The service would provide tips and advice on how to keep our minds active and healthy and promote and endorse memory aids, diets, games and puzzles. The clinics will link with existing voluntary sector organisations building upon their strengths, while continuing to provide invaluable support for those suffering from dementia and their carers. Above all they will provide an inclusive way for us all to engage with mental health, and help remove the stigma that currently surrounds it.
"I've lead three teams into the challenge, from two different consultancies, delivering a product, a packaging solution and a strategic proposition for a service opportunity. Each time, the reason for entering was to learn about my team -- by giving them responsibilities they otherwise wouldn't get, by pushing them outside their comfort zones, I find out a lot. And of course I want to win. Without the pressure of the competition, I would learn very little."
Jim Dawton, Pearson Matthews
