EnlivenPlus can certainly help. We offer post-diagnosis and assessment services as well as ongoing support services. To arrange a free consultation, email enlivenplus@psn.org.nz.

EnlivenPlus have a range of dementia services available on either a monthly subscription fee or as a pay as you go cost. The packages include Active Respite Care, Post-Diagnosis and Assessment, Wrap-around Support, Respite Care and Flourishing with Dementia.

To deliver the highest levels of quality care and support, our services are fee-based. As a not-for-profit organisation our fee structure is designed to enable the delivery and growth of our dementia services. < OUR SERVICES >

EnlivenPlus services are best suited to people with mild to moderate dementia, and our aim is to support independence in the home for as long as possible. If a client moves to a care village (independent living), we will continue to offer support in the same way as if the person was in their own home.

Most people wish is to stay at home for as long as possible, so our aim is to support the improved quality of life that comes with living at home. There is no doubt most people living with dementia would prefer staying in a familiar environment surrounded by people they know, love, and trust. However, if they need to be admitted to an aged residential care facility, we will help manage the transition for as long as required.

Most of our services are delivered in your home. For example, cognitive reablement activities are undertaken at your own home where you feel comfortable - in familiar surroundings where the levels of interruptions and noise can be controlled. However, we advise taking up external activities to get fresh air and to keep your muscles moving.

Yes, we offer Active Respite Care that allows a carer or family member to take time out while the person is in the safe, trusted hands of an EnlivenPlus Living Well Support Worker. Our respite is 'active' i.e. we actively engage with the person and support them to do things either at home, or we take them out and about. With the support of our staff, the person will engage in meaningful and fulfilling activities.

We will ask you who you wish to share your information with, and if there are any caveats. There are likely to be four levels of information sharing of which you can agree to all, none or some. They are: immediate carers, close family, medical, other associates and organisations.

With your permission we will gather information from other services that have already undertaken an assessment with you so that you don’t have to repeat yourself. We’ll also support you to write a brief one-page summary of your individual needs. By providing consistent input, our aim is to keep assessments to an absolute minimum.

Your local Specialist Care Manager will meet with you to discuss your individual goals and needs. We will then help you to select a member of our Living Well Support Workers team who you’ll be able to relate to and feel comfortable with.

Our EnlivenPlus services are relationship-based, so it is important that you get on with your EnlivenPlus Living Well Support Worker and enjoy their company. If for any reason you find that you don’t get on, you can request a new person.

Your Specialist Care Manager is your central point of contact ad they are available between 8.00am - 4:30pm, Monday to Friday.

Please discuss with your Specialist Care Manager to provide us with notice so we can allocate the time and resource for you. Any additional fees will be invoiced separately.

No information will be shared with outside agencies without your permission, which will be sought in writing.

Dementia is a collection of acquired cognitive (thinking) symptoms. There are over 120 different diseases that cause dementia and they all affect the brain differently. The most common cause is Alzheimer’s disease.

The typical symptoms for a person with dementia (and Alzheimer’s disease) are loss of memory about recent events; confusion about where they are, what they should be doing, and who people are; changes in how the brain perceives what it sees; an inability to focus and concentrate for long; an inability to understand what is being said or to make themselves understood; an inability to make reasoned judgments and decisions as they used to.

Looking after someone with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease can be tiring and stressful. The best strategies to adopt are to step into their world and look at everything from their point of view (walk a mile in their shoes), be patient, don’t argue with the person, and encourage them to do as much as they can for themselves, keep their social connections going, and keep them physically active. Don’t sweat the small stuff and get help, support and respite as early as possible.

Every cause of dementia affects the brain in a different way, and every person with dementia will be affected differently even if they have the same cause. In broad terms, there are three stages to the journey with dementia: mild, moderate and severe. Again, in very broad terms, someone in the mild stage will have ‘mild’ symptoms and will still be able to do most things independently. Unless you spend a lot of time with them, you wouldn’t even notice they have dementia. At this stage, it is very important to let them do as much as possible for themselves and to prepare yourself for the next stage by getting support and planning in-home respite. In the moderate stage, the symptoms are really quite obvious. The person will need support to do most things and will need in-home support from specialists. The family will need support and respite. In the severe stage, the person will be unable to feed themselves, will be incontinent, unable to walk and may be bedbound – this care can still be provided in-home and respite care for the family is crucial. Through all stages, the person’s ability to effectively communicate will also be impaired. We need to listen very carefully to what the person is trying to say either verbally or through their body language (body language is more reliable than verbal language). The care someone needs with dementia in their home will change from simple supports such as reminders through to being shown how to do something, to having things done for them, through to full nursing care. At all stages though, it is important to remember that there is still a person there who must be included in conversations, choices, and social interactions. For the family, education and respite is crucial to keeping the person at home.

Most people with dementia remain living at home with support for many years into their journey with dementia. It is not until the person is quite progressed, or that they don’t have the correct support at home, that they need care. People with dementia have about 90% of their journey with dementia at home, and only about 10% of that journey in care. The key is getting specialist help at home. Looking after someone with dementia is not just looking after someone with a bit of memory loss, it takes skill and knowledge. In Tauranga, EnlivenPlus is the only specialist in-home dementia service.

As with anyone living at home, there is no 100% guarantee that the person won’t have a fall, trip or have an accident. For those with dementia, we can reduce the likelihood of these things happening by getting specialist advice about small adaptations to the home to counter the symptoms of dementia. In Tauranga, EnlivenPlus is the only service that is specialised enough to be able to provide this support. If the person with dementia starts to leave the home and gets lost, there are a number of devices that can be used to ‘track’ the person. There are also many useful things you can do to ensure the person is correctly identified when they’re found, even if they are unable to recall their name, address or emergency contacts e.g. placing pieces of paper or business cards with the person’s details on in their coat pockets, purse, bag, wallet, etc. If they regularly walk the dog, adding an extra tag to the dog’s collar with the person’s details on is really useful, etc.

In Tauranga, EnlivenPlus is the only dementia-specific in-home support. We also provide dementia resources and advice. Other written resources can be found at the local Alzheimer’s Society.

There are some medications that can, for the right person and if given earlier enough in their journey with dementia, slow down some symptoms for a short time.

Give EnlivenPlus a call and we’ll talk you through what to do. Usually, the person’s GP will make the diagnosis, but often you will need a very skilled conversation to even get the person to their GP which is where EnlivenPlus (Tauranga) can come in.

There are 120 different ‘types’ of dementia, the main ones are dementia of the Alzheimer’s type (60%), Vascular Disease dementia (20%) (stroke or multi infract dementia), Mixed dementia (10%) (when someone has Alzheimer’s disease plus stroke disease causing their dementia), then a myriad of others making up the other 10% (frontal lobe dementia, Parkinson’s disease dementia, Dementia with Lewy Bodies, CTE (head injury dementia), etc)

It is one of the main supports to help keep the person living at home for longer. Without respite, the carer will become exhausted and unable to cope. It is important to get respite early on particularly in the journey with dementia and not wait until you are at your wit’s end. In Tauranga, there are very few to no respite beds in care homes which makes in-home respite even more important.

Every person looking after someone with dementia will benefit from respite - husbands, wives, adult children, grandchildren, extended family - and the person will also benefit as the people looking after them will be less stressed.

EnlivenPlus (Tauranga) in-home respite costs $60 an hour. Health insurance doesn’t cover respite care, but through an assessment by the DHB (SupportNet), you can claim about $320 a month towards the costs.

Look for a service that provides respite in the person’s home and actively does things (activities of choice) with the person, rather than just sit and watch them. For people with dementia, they also need to be specialists in dementia. EnlivenPlus is the only dementia specialist service providing respite in Tauranga.

No one can ever provide 100% safety, but EnlivenPlus Tauranga are specialists who are trained in managing unpredictable and agitated behaviours.

EnlivenPlus (Tauranga) provides in-home respite for a minimum of two hours as this ensures time for our team and the person to build a trusting relationship. It is also important that the visit doesn't feel rushed and that there's not enough time to do anything. Similarly it is very important that the carer has enough time to relax and recharge, and not have to rush back after a short time.

Respite should be provided in the person with dementia’s own home as this is where they are comfortable and things are familiar. Unfortunately, if respite is provided in a care home, it is often very stressful for everyone. From the person with dementia’s point of view, they have been abandoned in a building that they don’t recognise, with people they don’t know (and may not like), where they don’t know what the ‘rules’ are and how to function in this unfamiliar place.

The caregiver gains a much-needed rest and is able to relax, recharge and have time for themselves. Often this is the only time they will have without the person with dementia nearby and the only time they get a break from the 24/7 caring role. This also might be the only time the caregiver is able to get their hair cut, meet with friends, read a book or just ‘switch off’. The person with dementia will have a refreshed caregiver by their side, who is able to ‘go with the flow’ and not be stressed about the caring role. With skilled in-home respite, they will also get to do fun, enjoyable and meaningful things with their Tauranga EnlivenPlus staff.

In Tauranga, respite care in a care home is very seldom available, and if it is, you must have a minimum of a week’s respite. For a person with dementia or Alzheimer’s, respite in a care home seldom goes well as it is all too unfamiliar for them. Often the caregiver ends up visiting them for hours every day as they are so worried about how they’re coping. EnlivenPlus Tauranga provides specialist care for people with dementia in their own homes, including respite.

Alzheimer’s disease causes irreversible damage to the brain that in turn causes the person to have a set of symptoms called dementia. It is the most common cause of dementia.

The first signs of Alzheimer’s disease are that the person, or other people will notice is difficulty in remembering recent events or information. They may also have an altered sense of smell.

Alzheimer’s disease, like all other types of dementia, is diagnosed through a process of elimination (for their symptoms), some cognitive tests and through gathering information about their symptoms e.g. how long have they had them? have they got worse? do they interfere with the person’s ability to live their life? In Tauranga, usually the GP makes the diagnosis, but sometimes EnlivenPlus will help by doing the cognitive testing in the person’s own home as it is less stressful than doing it in the GP surgery. We also support the person and their family after the diagnosis has been made.

Currently, there is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease, but there are a couple of medications that may help a small number of people to slow their symptoms down for a few months. The best intervention for Alzheimer’s disease is to be well informed about the process and to keep your social stimulation and connections up as these are so important in giving our brains the exercise they need. In Tauranga, EnlivenPlus is the only dementia specialist service that offers cognitive reablement.

Care for any person with dementia, including Alzheimer’s, focuses on supporting the person to live their best life. It focuses on maintaining and encouraging the person to do as much as they can for themselves, and on keeping the person in their own home, but also being socially connected. EnlivenPlus Tauranga is the only specialist service that offers weekly, and more frequent visits, to support, advise, guide, and take people with dementia and Alzheimer’s out and about in their community.

A typical care home room costs are around $96,000 a year (some people are subsidised by government payments, but will often still need to pay a ‘top up’ to secure a room whereby their loved one doesn’t need to share a toilet or have a ‘view’ of a brick wall). In Tauranga, EnlivenPlus can provide care to people with dementia and Alzheimer’s in their own home from as little as $60 an hour.

A family caregiver plays a crucial role in supporting the person with dementia to live at home for longer, but the caregiver themselves needs to be able to look after themselves to be able to look after their loved one. In Tauranga, EnlivenPlus is a specialist service that not only provides the caregiver with weekly respite, but also provides education, emotional support, guidance and lots of hints and tips on how to look after someone with dementia. No other service is able to do this.

People with Alzheimer’s or dementia are primarily cared for at home which means the carers and family need to be well informed about what Alzheimer’s is, how it affects the person, and how it’s going to progress. The answers to ‘how to care for someone with Alzheimer’s at home’ are as individual as the person themselves and their particular circumstances. Without the right knowledge and support, things will go wrong and the person will go into care earlier than they need to. In Tauranga, EnlivenPlus is the only in-home service that specialises in dementia and Alzheimer’s.

It can be extremely stressful and tiring being a caregiver for someone with Alzheimer’s or dementia. You will need regular respite to be able to cope with all the little, and the big things, that come up. You will need to get good information about Alzheimer’s and how it affects people. Being prepared for what comes next is much better than being surprised by the many unexpected twists and turns along the way. You will also need someone to be a sounding board for when the frustrations get too large to handle. EnlivenPlus Tauranga is the only service that can provide you with everything you need to help the journey with dementia to go as smoothly as possible.

With the right support, most people with Alzheimer’s disease live successfully at home right up to near the end. However, the support needs to be the right support from people who have specialised in this area. Well-meaning friends and neighbours will not be able to provide specialist support and may even inadvertently be doing the opposite of what is required. In Tauranga, EnlivenPlus is the only Alzheimer’s and dementia specialist that provides weekly in-home support for this complex condition.