Dementia Friendly Communities: Season 3, Episode 19

    This is the first in a multi-part series on Dementia Friendly Communities. In it, Phyllis Fehr, a member of our Editorial Board and also a member of the Dementia Friendly Communities project of the Hamilton Council on Aging hosts a discussion with Debbie Keay a fellow member of the Hamilton Ontario Project and Roger Marple who is active in a Dementia Friendly project in  Calgary, Alberta.

    These projects are different from each other but the motivations behind these 3 people, all of whom have dementia, share many similarities. Each person is actively living a life that they thought was lost to them when they were first diagnosed with dementia. Through their own research and reaching out to groups like the Alzheimer Society, each has learned how to adjust to having dementia and to live a full and meaningful life. They want to help other people living with dementia to avoid often self-limiting behavior and to reduce the stigma associated with having dementia. Dementia Friendly Communities is one way. 

  The Dementia Friendly Community movement is worldwide and is growing in Canada. Many Alzheimer Societies and other community organizations are involved. You can find out more about Roger and Phyllis by searching their names on the internet. Media articles about Phyllis and Debbie’s project include:

 

• https://www.thespec.com/opinion/contributors/2020/11/03/survey-will-help-build-dementia-friendly-cities.html#:~:text=Currently%2C%20the%20Alzheimer%20Society%20estimates%20that%20there%20are,and%20executive%20and%20physical%20functioning%2C%20among%20other%20symptoms.

 

Roger's videos  can be found at:

https://www.dementianetworkcalgary.ca

This webpage links to each of the partner province’s DFC sites, which contain some great resources:

 https://alzheimer.ca/en/take-action/become-dementia-friendly/dementia-friendly-canada

• B.C.: https://alzheimer.ca/bc/en/take-action/dementia-friendly-communities
• Saskatchewan: https://dementiafriendlysaskatchewan.ca/
• Manitoba: https://alzheimer.mb.ca/we-can-help/programs-and-services/dfc/
  • Ontario: https://alzheimer.ca/on/en/take-action/become-dementia-friendly/dementia-friendly-communities-ontario
• Dementia-Friendly Canada webinar, March 2020: https://vimeo.com/402941879