Getting Started
Dementia Friendly Communities are started by residents, business owners, and service providers joining together with a shared mission to create a more dementia friendly culture in their local area.
Imagine a community with:
Businesses
where staff understand the needs of people living with dementia and are happy to provide extra assistance.
Health Care
that is dedicated to early diagnosis and support services that promote independence.
Public Services
such as libraries that have special programs and accessible environments that promote engagement.
Schools
that prioritize dementia education and encourage inter-generational opportunities.
Public Spaces
that meet the physical, cognitive, and sensory needs of individuals living with dementia.
Creating a dementia-friendly community involves:
- Raising awareness about dementia, transforming attitudes, and moving people to action
- Supporting family and friend care partners by providing accessible information, resources, and in-person support
- Promoting meaningful participation in community life for everyone
How do I start this in my area?
Become a Dementia Friend.
One great way to get started is to become a Dementia Friend by attending a free education session. These free sessions help everyone in a community understand how dementia impacts individuals and families, and things we can each do to make a difference in the lives of those affected. We offer two dementia friends sessions and dementia friends champions trainings each month.
Find information on Ohio sessions here.
Form a Team.
Look for allies in your community. It may sound cliché but it is no less true — everything in life is relationship, relationship, relationship. We all thrive when we are able to strengthen connections between community members working toward common goals. As you form your team of allies, make sure to include people with dementia, care partners, or those with lived experiences on that team. A good place to start is with a group of like-minded community members who share the mission to create a more dementia friendly culture in their local area. Using this Community Action Form will help you to begin to talk and answer many of the questions on the Dementia Friendly America application that you will complete when you are ready.
Complete the application.
Joining the DFA network of communities means your community is engaged in a process to become more dementia friendly. It is recommended that any interested community explore the Dementia Friendly America website as it provides helpful insight to the process, including readiness and recognition criteria. You’ll also need to gather three of more letters of support representing different community sectors. Contact us for an additional leeter of recommendation from the Ohio Council of Cognitive Health.
Building a Dementia Friendly Ohio, one community at a time.
Using the Dementia Friendly America Toolkit, your community can work toward inclusive communities for people living with dementia in Ohio.
The Dementia Friendly America Community Toolkit can help guide communities through a research informed process that fosters adoption of dementia friendly practices in all parts of the community. The four-step process outlined in the Community Toolkit includes information and resources for communities to CONVENE, ENGAGE, ANALYZE and ACT to become more dementia friendly.
Dementia friendly communities recognize that dementia is a public health priority. Did you know that as a dementia friendly community you will have the tools to promote cognitive health throughout the life span? The Ohio Council for Cognitive Health will support your efforts by providing your community with resources to promote brain health.
Dementia Friendly Communities are started by residents, business owners, and service providers joining together with a shared mission to create a more dementia friendly culture in their local area.
Joining Dementia Friendly America means a community is working to become more dementia friendly by:
- involving at least 3 sectors of community
- including people with dementia and their care partners in planning
- adopting dementia friendly practices and goals
Dementia Friendly Communities work toward:
- reducing stigma
- building awareness
- supporting people to remain active
- creating supportive physical environments
- engaging volunteers
Why are dementia-friendly communities important?
WE ARE ALL AGING. While dementia is more common with advanced age, it is not a normal part of aging. And dementia isn’t just a concern for older people, people in their 40s and 50s can live with early onset dementia. In Ohio in 2019, 11.6% of adults age 45 and older reported having increased confusion or memory loss that happens often or became worse during the past 12 months.
Since most people with dementia live in their homes rather than in long term care communities, Dementia Friendly Communities focus on transforming our state into a better place to live for All people as well as for people with dementia and their care partners. The goal is to facilitate local communities to enable people living with dementia to remain living in their own home and retain their traditional relationships.
Dementia Friendly Communities remember to support care partners who often feel forgotten. Family and friends helping to care for someone can be experiencing grief, exhaustion, stress, and isolation. Volunteer networks of dementia friends can give care partners a chance to have a much needed break or lend support in other ways.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association:
(2023 figures from their Facts and Figures publication)
- 220,000 people aged 65 and older are living with Alzheimer’s disease in Ohio.
- 1 in 8 people aged 45 and older have subjective cognitive decline in Ohio.
- 493,000 family caregivers bear the burden of the disease in Ohio.
- 736 million hours of unpaid care provided by Alzheimer’s care partners in Ohio.
- $13+ billion is the value of the unpaid care in Ohio.
It’s good for ALL OF US. The result is a community that is accessible for people with a lot of different needs, not just people with dementia.
We are so glad that you are joining this effort and can’t wait to see your community name here!
