UK Expert to Launch Dementia-friendly Toolkit for Councils

UK dementia expert Philly Hare will help launch a toolkit developed by Alzheimer’s Australia Vic to assist councils to make their local community more dementia-friendly.

Alzheimer’s Australia Vic General Manager of Learning and Development, Dr David Sykes, said local councils are ideally placed to ensure that communities are vibrant, inclusive and supportive of all citizens, including people living with dementia.

“The toolkit, ‘Creating dementia-friendly communities: a toolkit for local government’, provides information, resources and guidance for building on existing infrastructure, systems and services. We are keen for the toolkit to help council staff to understand that in partnership with people living with dementia they can become more dementia-friendly without having a big budget to work with,” said Dr Sykes.

Philly Hare has been program manager at the major UK social policy research charity Joseph Rowntree Foundation since 2006 and has led their “Dementia without Walls” program which has championed the concept of dementia-friendly communities in the UK. In 2016 Philly is on secondment to Innovations in Dementia, focusing on disseminating the messages and learning from the program to achieve maximum impact.

Philly sits on the Prime Minister’s Dementia Champions Working Group in England and has a particular interest in the empowerment and inclusion of people with dementia.

“We all have a part to play in ensuring people with dementia remain connected in their local community but local governments have a really significant role to play because they deliver services, build infrastructure and set policies which have a direct impact on how the community operates.

“I’m really pleased that the toolkit stresses to councils the importance of working with people with dementia to identify ways they can become more dementia-friendly as these direct insights are invaluable and help to ensure any changes made do actually meet their needs.

“This toolkit is a practical, evidence-based resource that local government workers will find really useful and that will have a direct impact on the quality of life of people living with dementia and carers too,” Ms Hare said.

The toolkit has been informed by wide-ranging collaboration with more than half of all Victorian councils, people living with dementia, carers and representatives from the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services and the Municipal Association of Victoria. It was jointly funded by the Commonwealth and Victorian Governments under the Home and Community Care (HACC) program.

In Victoria almost 97,000 people are living with dementia. This figure is projected to increase to 386,000 by 2050. Alzheimer’s Australia Vic is the charity and peak body representing people, of all ages, with all forms of dementia in Victoria. They provide specialised dementia information, education and support services. Call our National Dementia Helpline on 1800 100 500 or visit fightdementia.org.au/vic. 

Click here to view the toolkit.

Search for residential aged care in: