“WHEN you first find out you are in a bit of a fog. We were told to go away and come back in a year.”

Heather Moody is describing how she felt when her husband Lewis was diagnosed with dementia.

“We were living up north and it was so confusing to deal with all the different services. There wasn’t one place to go for all the information we needed. When it is dementia you are dealing with you need support and you need to know where to find it.”

It was to address this lack of clear information that Alzheimer's Support created the Dementia Roadmap for Wiltshire.

The roadmap is online guide on what to expect when being diagnosed with dementia in Wiltshire. It takes people through the process of GP appointments and tests with downloadable guides to what to expect at every stage.

The roadmap leads to a related website, the Support Village, where the charity has pulled together links to a wealth of relevant local information about available support and activities.

Babs Harris, Alzheimer's Support CEO, said: "We have been working on this for nearly two years and have had tremendous support and encouragement from so many people who know how valuable this information will be. People often tell us that what they need is practical, locally available support. This information can be hard to find in one place so the Support Village brings it all together.”

“We already have ten dementia advisers in Wiltshire. We think of the roadmap and support village together as a ‘virtual’ dementia adviser, accessible 24 hours a day, and there to help people find the information they need to live as well as they can with dementia.

“We know that not everyone uses a computer so this is also aimed at professionals who can find the information on people’s behalf."

Heather, who cares for Lewis at their home in Bradford on Avon, said: “This would have been so helpful to us when Lewis was first diagnosed. There is a lot going on in Wiltshire for people with dementia thanks to Alzheimer’s Support and it is such a bonus to have everything together on one site.”

The roadmap and Support Village were created with financial support from Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group.

Lucy Baker, acting commissioning director for maternity, children and mental health, said: "The roadmap is an essential guide for individuals, carers and families looking for advice and extra help for people who are affected directly or indirectly by dementia. We warmly welcome this resource and encourage people to use it.”

Find the roadmap at www.dementiaroadmap.org.

To leave feedback go to www.alzheimerswiltshire.org.uk/forms/roadmap-feedback.