The pandemic has put the need for community front and center for people living with dementia and their caregivers. We need your help to continue to make this support available.
Individuals and families can’t manage the extraordinary demands on their own. Yet, too often fear, the stigma of memory loss and misconceptions about the effects of dementia stand in the way of effective community support.
Community is a lifeline for Brigid
Brigid was 87 years old and a beloved neighbor. She was creative, opinionated and witty. She was also showing signs of memory loss.
One day her neighbor heard a smoke alarm and found a burned pan on the stove with Brigid making a futile attempt to wave the smoke away with a broom. Not long after, Brigid learned that she had a blood clot, most likely due to poorly managed medications. Brigid’s memory issues were affecting her physical health and something needed to change.
Her family moved her into a transitional care center where they put her in quarantine due to COVID. In her isolation, she grew increasingly depressed. Her neighbors took turns visiting and for her 88th birthday they threw a party for her through her window.
With support from her family and neighbors, Brigid was able to go back to her apartment temporarily before moving to an assisted living apartment.
Brigid doesn’t have a good sense of time and falters with decision-making. She may forget names but never forgets how to make the neighborhood kids laugh. The neighbors’ love, concern and enjoyment of Brigid is unfaltering and keeps many generations on the block connected.
Community-based initiatives supported by Trellis
These initiatives provide the support leaders to make their communities more dementia-friendly.
ACT on Alzheimer’s supports 50+ Action Communities across Minnesota that organize cross-sector teams to make their communities “dementia capable” and support residents who are touched by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.
Dementia Friendly @ Work for Healthcare, an Act on Alzheimer’s initiative, is partnering with the Minnesota Dental Association and the University of Minnesota Northstar Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (MN GWEP) to launch an ambitious effort to train dental and medical staff on the warning signs of Alzheimer’s disease, communication tips and how to create a dementia-friendly physical space.
Dementia Friends Minnesota has created 21,500+ Dementia Friends, informing them on how to change the way we think, act and talk about dementia. The initiative has trained 552 Dementia Friends Champions to deliver the free one-hour training.
The Remember Project uses the arts to raise awareness and end the stigma of memory loss. Through a theatrical performance, the project explores the care and experience of dementia. Audience members participate in often life-changing conversations about insights that are surfaced in the play.
Please contribute today!
Your donation will help fund community grants, support additional Dementia Friends Information Sessions, make additional The Remember Project events possible, and provide technical support and training for dementia friendly initiatives.
