Living Well With Dementia

Creating Dementia Friendly CommunitiesSeptember 2015

Living Well With Dementia

The world of today and tomorrow:

• Incidence of dementia increasing

• Awareness of dementia increasing

• Understanding of people living with dementia and their care partners, is increasing

Time for change!

People with dementia want a voice!

See me not my disease!

I’m still me!

• Dyan says …

People with dementia and their families are telling us they want:

• Increased social participation

• Respect and social inclusion

• Civic participation and employment

• Supportive outdoors and public spaces

People with dementia and their families are telling us they want:

• Choices in where to live

• Confidence in engaging in the community

• Full and equal membership, participation, power, determination and leadership as an older person

The Bobcaygeon Experience

Client Advisory Committee

The Blue Umbrella

Program Focus Areas

• Advertising Campaign

• Posters/ Flyers• Media

• Public Exposure changing the face of dementia

• Public Training• Training

Package with tools

• Personal Identifiers

• Community Identifier

Identify Educate

Promote AwarenessRedefine

Staff and Volunteers Together

“Walk-abouts”

Education Sessions

Identifiers

Secret Shoppers

Business response

Bobcaygeon’s Success

• Small rural town, 3000 permanent residents

• 50+ businesses educated

• 50+ people with dementia wearing the identifier

Bobcaygeon’s Success:

• Reports of improved customer services

• Businesses and services want to know more

• Service providers want to enhance for their own unique needs

Across the province:

• 5 Local Societies now piloting Blue Umbrella

• Evaluation to support more roll-out

• Creation of education models for unique business and service groups

In the mean time …

Join the movement. Sign up today!www.dementiafriends.ca

Or email us to find out more atinfo@dementiafriends.ca

Sam Roberts Caroline Cameron David Hearn

Addition of “living well” programs

Addition of “living well” programs

Addition of “living well” programs

Taking Control of Our Lives: A self-management program for people living with dementia

Addition of “living well” programs

• Unique activities in numerous Local Alzheimer Societies– IPOD music program– Art activities– Choirs– Garden care– Exercise Programs– Intergenerational activities

Workplace education

• Designing modules for customer/client-facing staff– Retail businesses and service providers– Emergency responders– Retirement home staff– Financial institutions– Legal institutions– Municipal leaders– Community housing workers– Employers of people with dementia– Employees recently diagnosed with dementia

Dementia as a disability

• What does “disease” mean to us?

• What would change if we used “disability” language?

• What does history show us?

Dementia as a disability

• Accommodation – people with dementia will be able to work and volunteer longer with their disability

• Accessibility – workplaces will learn about, and make changes, to practices, policies and designs

Internal to Alzheimer Society

• Adding a dementia lens to age-friendly community work

• Engaging with people with dementia in an inclusive way

Dementia Friendly Communities

• Developing a framework for a model that will bring collective impact

• Multiple stakeholders focused through one model, with many different activities and outcomes, but one common vision

Getting there:

• Engagement with people with dementia and their care partners to determine a desired state

• Desired state is the common vision

• The common vision helps define DFC

Getting There:

• Guiding Principles to support the definition

• Building Blocks are the practical components

• Focus Areas are where multiple stakeholders align their activities

• Levels of Commitment allows for individuals, entities and communities to take action

Getting There:

• Overall Goals keep broad focus

• Objectives keep collective focused

• Outputs and Outcomes keep collective on track, and allow for measurement

• Communication key to shared measurements and accountability

DFC Model

Entity Activities

Entity Activities

Entity Activities

Primary and

Secondary Outcomes

Common and

Unique

Collective Impact

One Shared Vision

At the end of the day, people living with dementia will:

• Be more actively engaged outside of their home

• Feel safer in their community

• Enjoy where they live

• Continue to maintain personal interests and activities

At the end of the day,people living with dementia will:

• Be recognized as valuable contributors to their communities

• Live longer in the home of their choice

• Experience less stigma

And even more so …

• Feel empowered, have higher aspirations

• Maintain a higher level of independence and control

• Experience personalized and integrated care as the norm

Keep in touch!

David Webster, Program ManagerAlzheimer Society of Ontario

dwebster@alzheimeront.org

Thank you!