Specialist Dementia Intervention Team

What we do

The purpose of the Specialist Dementia Intervention Team (SDIT) is to provide prompt support, advice and education to individual families or carers of people with dementia and behaviour that challenges who live at home or in a care home. We provide a 12 week biopsychosocial formulation based on assessment of the behaviours that challenge in order to reduce the carer distress. Ultimately aiming to improve the home situation and avoid any unnecessary admission to hospital or premature move to/around the care home sector.

Can anyone use this service?

This service caters for anyone with all three elements:

Confirmed diagnosis of dementia
Behaviours that challenge associated with dementia
Significant carer distress associated with these behaviours

What to expect

The Specialist Dementia Intervention Team (SDIT) provide a 7-day service with core hours of 9 pm – 5 pm, with flexibility to respond to individual needs. SDIT breaks down its intervention into 3 phases:

Phase 1: consists of information gathering. We collect all relevant life history, medical history etc. to inform us who the “person is” and what unmet needs they may be experiencing.

Phase 2: involves producing a formulation with carers to put together a plan. The plan is designed to support a reduction in behaviours that challenge and thus reduce carer distress.

Phase 3: consists of modelling the plan to carers so that they understand how to use it.

Finally, the plan is evaluated and the patient is discharged.

Contact Us

For further advice please contact:

SDIT - Team Leader via telephone on 01443 715074 or email CTUHB_SpecialistDementiaInterventionTeam@wales.nhs.uk.