A Hampton care home has hosted a virtual dementia day to promote better understanding of the “scary and confusing disease”.

Members of the public were invited to Marling Court Care Home in Bramble Lane and given the opportunity to participate on February 7, in a session led by Training 2 care.

40 people from the community attended, including workers from nearby businesses, family members, charity workers, and healthcare professionals.

The immersive experience was created by PK Beville as part of her research into dementia. The tour involved multi-sensory equipment, both audio and visual, which is the closet interpretation to show how living with the condition can make simple day-to-day tasks difficult.

“It was not what I was expecting at all, a real eye opener,” said Beverley Edmonds, one participant.

“It was scary at first and that helps give you a whole new perspective of Dementia and how it changes a person’s understanding, especially on basic things we take for granted every day.”

The care home also tried out a ‘Magic Table’, which, is designed to project games and images on to a table. The interactive experience has proved successful with the current residents.

Gloria George, Manager of Marling Court, said: “Today has been a real success, both for our staff and the local community.

“Dementia is a scary and confusing disease, which not only affects those living with it but the people around them.

“We wanted to make it a little easier for people to understand this and how they can help anyone who is living with the condition.”