By the Massachusetts Healthy Aging Collaborative web team
“What does it take?” That was the question attendees grappled with at the Dementia Friendly Massachusetts Summit on Monday, May 9, 2016.What does it take to build a dementia friendly community—a community that is informed, safe and respectful, and enables people living with dementia and those who care about them to live full, engaged lives.
Alice Bonner, Secretary of the Executive Office of Elder Affairs, and Beth Soltzberg, Manager of the Alzheimer’s/Related Disorders Family Support Program at Jewish Family & Children’s Service (JFCS).
Douglas, Massachusetts resident, Mike Bellville, 55, kicked off the day by sharing the challenges he faces living with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Olivia Mastry, who leads a Minnesota collaboration working to make that state more dementia friendly, outlined specific steps businesses, government, and other community sectors can take to support people living with dementia and their care partners. Massachusetts Secretary of Elder Affairs Alice Bonner urged attendees to find a way to move forward, “We have to raise awareness and get people talking about this.”
Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs and Jewish Family and Children’s Service, both members of the Massachusetts Healthy Aging Collaborative, convened the meeting to bring together stakeholders from elder services, law enforcement, social services, and government to chart a direction for building a dementia friendly Massachusetts. It was sponsored by Tufts Health Plan Foundation.
Other speakers included BayPath Elder Services Executive Director Christine Alessandro; Andrea Burns, Director of Age-Friendly Boston; Erin Long of the Administration on Community Living; and Beth Soltzberg of JFCS Boston.
Read more about the summit: http://m.watertown.wickedlocal.com/article/20160510/NEWS/160519542
View tweets and photos from the summit via Storify: https://storify.com/THPFoundation/dementia-friendly-summit
Related resources:
- Dementia Friendly America website: http://www.dfamerica.org
- Dementia Friendly America Initiative video: http://www.dfamerica.org/about-dfa-1/
- Dementia Friendly Communities Video: http://www.dfamerica.org/overview-2/
Related webinars:
Learn more at these upcoming webinars offered by Cognitive Solutions.
- Dementia: Diagnosis and Treatment – May 18 & May 25
- Getting Where We Want To Go, When We Want To Go There: A Big Part of Healthy Aging – June 1 & June 8
- Creating Strong Ties between Hospitals and Community Care Providers Benefits Persons with Alzheimer’s – June 15 & June 22
- Acute Care and the Caregiver: Friend, Foe or Part of the Team – June 29 & July 6
- Communicating with a Person with Dementia to Enhance the Hospital Experience (for Everyone!) – July 13 & July 20
- Adult Day Services: A Community-Based Option to Reduce Risk of Hospitalization in People with Dementia – July 27 & August 3