Dementia Friendly Communities in Action

A dementia friendly community is a place where individuals living with dementia and the care partners that support them are able to participate to the fullest extent possible. A natural link exists between dementia friendly communities and local libraries, as they are hubs for meaningful connection, wide-ranging resources, and lifelong learning.

In December, our Dementia Community Coordinator was invited to attend Yorkton Public Library’s chair yoga class to provide recommendations on how to make the class more accommodating for people living with dementia. Since then, Jackie has continued to work with Amber Harvey, manager of Yorkton Public Library, to help their staff increase the accessibility of the branch using our Dementia Friendly Toolkit - Library Edition. Some of the enhancements Yorkton Public Library has been making to their space include:

• Creating a quiet news-media area;
• Clearing aisles to better help guests navigate the space;
• Curating more large print options.

Because Amber recognized a strong connection between our dementia friendly efforts and Yorkton Public Library’s goals of being an inclusive environment, she has invited Jackie to present to staff from over 50 other library branches around the Parkland region. Jackie will speak about supporting people living with dementia from a library perspective and follow up with attendees to engage them more around dementia friendliness. This is a significant step towards creating more dementia friendly communities. We are excited about the progress that is being made!  

_{^{Our Dementia Community Coordinator, Jackie Hofstrand, presents Amber Harvey, Branch Manager - Yorkton Public Library, with the book A Love That Waited, which has specific fonts and page formatting for people living with dementia.}}  

Other Connections

During December, Jackie also connected with several pharmacies in Langenburg, Melville, and Esterhazy. Melville Pharmasave indicated they would like Jackie to present our ABC’s of Dementia – Warning Signs presentation to their staff in the upcoming months. Langenburg Pharmasave, who previously hosted an ABC’s of Dementia event several years ago, expressed interest in having another presentation this year to ensure their staff has the most current information.

The common feedback from the pharmacies Jackie has been visiting is that they recognize how important it is to meet their clients’ evolving needs.

One day while Jackie was grabbing lunch in Esterhazy, she met some members of the Esterhazy Elks Club. They invited her over to the Elks Lodge to display posters about how the Alzheimer Society can help families affected by dementia and they also discussed setting up a meeting to determine how they can make their programming more dementia friendly for their members.