Community Insights: Mosborough Dementia Carers Support Group

What we did

On 8 June 2026, we visited a dementia carers support group at Mosborough’s Joseph Stone Community Centre, run by Woodhouse and District Community Forum. The group meets once a month over a light lunch and refreshments to talk, share experiences and learnings, and support one another. 

We spoke to twelve women of retirement age who all have experience of being carers for their partners with dementia. Below is a summary of what people told us. 

What we learnt

What works well?

• One woman whose husband was receiving respite at Eckington Court Care Home spoke highly of the staff and quality of care there. They took the time to dress her husband well and she saw him smiling during his stay. She also appreciated staff checking in on her own wellbeing too. 
   
• Day care centres such as Happy Days in Swallownest and the Rainbow Care Group’s dementia day care services in Dronfield offer unpaid carers regular respite. This helped one woman keep her husband at home for longer, which she felt was important in slowing down the progression of her husband’s dementia. 
   
• A carer told us they valued being able to use The Sheffield Carers Service ‘time for a break’ grant flexibly to help her wellbeing.  She used it for occasional trips to the nail salon when she could find the time as opposed to a whole day away, which would have been impossible for her due to her caring responsibilities. 
   

• Enrichment for the Elderly’s Grace Stead facilitates a 6-week course in Woodhouse for dementia carers, which carers found really useful and informative. Topics covered on the course ranged from explaining dementia in detail, as well as financial and administrative signposting. 

  ‘The only negative was that it came to an end’ 
   

• St Luke’s Sheffield Hospice and Age UK Sheffield had supported some of the carers and their husbands by providing regular check in calls with them, arranging food parcels for delivery, and handling contact with different services for them, such as benefit claims and physiotherapy. The carers were very grateful for the support they received from these charities.  
   
• One woman was eager to praise Crystal Peaks Medical Centre. The doctor had called the couple on the recent hot May Bank Holiday (a day when the practice was closed) to check they were both drinking enough water. 
  
  ‘I’ve never been let down by them’
   
• The dementia carers support group in Mosborough itself was described as a ‘lifeline’ by many. The group considered themselves a community and included those who were starting out as dementia carers to those who had recently experienced bereavement. This allowed them to support each other at different stages of their journeys. 

What could be better?

• One carer told us of her ‘distressing’ experience being assessed for benefits by the Department for Work and Pensions. The telephone assessor reportedly asked her probing and pressing questions such as ‘how do you know the things he can’t do?’ with regard to her husband’s dementia. 
  
  ‘You have to jump through hoops to get anything’
   
• One person commented that two admiral nurses at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals was not enough to cover Sheffield and meet the current demand for the service. 
   
• One woman described the care her husband received from the Older Adults Community Mental Health Teams as brilliant for the six weeks he was under the service. However, being discharged after six weeks meant that he went without support for four months until his GP was able to re-refer him back to the service.    

Ideas for improvement

• A support line or local hub providing comprehensive advice and signposting for people with and affected by dementia as to what services and funding they can access. 
   
• Many people were unaware of a designated ‘pathway’ for dementia. Carers wanted to know about the formal pathway at the beginning of the journey. It was thought that this would support patients and carers in understanding the roadmap ahead following diagnosis, and inform them of treatments, services and financial considerations that may lie ahead. 
   
• Carers told us that having a symbol on patient records similar to the red dot for penicillin would support administrators and professionals in understanding when a carer needs to speak or act on behalf of the patient. Carers suggested the forget-me-not, typically used as the symbol of dementia, would be appropriate. 
   
• Some carers felt that, while there is a good offer of dementia friendly groups and activities in Sheffield, most require people to sit such as crafts or entertainment. They told us they would like to see more outdoors and active opportunities where possible.  
   
• People agreed that caring for someone with dementia at night can often be more difficult due to repeated nocturnal waking and confusion. They suggested a phoneline for people with dementia to call out of hours when they felt disoriented with the hope that this would help take the pressure off family and carers.
   

Next steps

Information sharing

We will share this write-up with relevant service providers and community groups. This may include, but not be limited to, any named GP practices, mental health commissioners and service providers.

Thank you

We would like to thank Mosborough’s dementia carers support group for having us and to all those who attended for sharing their feedback and experiences with us.