Dementia friendly communities

World Dementia Council paper 1
The belief that people with dementia should be able to participate in the community, and a recognition that social isolation is bad for an individual’s health, has helped drive the momentum of the dementia friendly movement. As set out in the first part of this paper, at the 2013 G8 dementia summit the international community recognized the importance of people with dementia living well in the community. Over the past decade, there has been growing international discussion around whether there is a gap between the activity of ‘dementia friendly initiatives’, and the evidence underpinning their impact. The second part of this paper considers what these initiatives are seeking to achieve, and suggests that increasing awareness (overwhelmingly the main focus of activities, especially volunteer-led ones), enabling participation in the community, and providing support, are primary aims.

World Dementia Council paper 2
This is the second paper published in a series presenting a global evidence base for dementia friendly initiatives. The review of evidence highlighted in the first paper identified the huge variety of initiatives being delivered. The first paper argued that, despite this undoubted variation, initiatives sought to deliver three broad ambitions: raise awareness, enable participation and provide support.This paper will reflect on the evidence the review identified for the impact on people with dementia and their caregivers.

Dementia-friendly communities (DFCs) are one way in which people living with dementia can be supported to be active, engaged and valued citizens. Quantitative evaluations of the experiences of those with dementia living within these communities are scarce. This article reports findings from a survey of people living with dementia on their experience of living in a DFC.
Darlington, N., Arthur, A., Woodward, M., Buckner, S., Killett, A., Lafortune, L., Mathie, E., Mayrhofer, A., Thurman, J., & Goodman, C. (2020). A survey of the experience of living with dementia in a dementia-friendly community. Dementia.

Low levels of public understanding can contribute to the fear, stigma and social exclusion associated with living with dementia. Dementia friendly communities aim to address this by empowering people with dementia and increasing their social inclusion. As a part of a Community Based Participatory Action Research (CBPAR) process, a multicomponent dementia friendly community intervention supported: research; the establishment of a Dementia Advisory Group and Alliance; an awareness campaign and education in community organisations.
Phillipson, L., Hall, D., Cridland, E., Fleming, R., Brennan-Horley, C., Guggisberg, N., … Hasan, H. (2019). Involvement of people with dementia in raising awareness and changing attitudes in a dementia friendly community pilot project. Dementia, 18(7–8), 2679–2694.

This study presents data from four cohorts of undergraduate college students and people with dementia and their family members, using an intergenerational choir as the process through which to begin to create a dementia friendly community. This was accomplished by breaking down the stereotypes and misunderstandings that young adults have about people with dementia, thus allowing their commonalities and the strengths of the people living with dementia to become more visible.
Harris, P. B., & Caporella, C. A. (2019). Making a university community more dementia friendly through participation in an intergenerational choir. Dementia, 18(7–8), 2556–2575.

Australia’s first Dementia-Friendly Forest and Sensory Trail is in Woowookarung Regional Park in Ballarat.
It is designed to promote health and wellbeing through a range of experiences in nature to be enjoyed by all-abilities but particularly by those living with dementia throughout their dementia journey. The Trail’s track will allow for wheelchairs, trail riders, walkers and companion dogs. Seating and clear signage will enable individuals and larger groups such as visitors from residential aged care homes.
Trail map and details of this project available at this link.