Dementia Friendly Communities
Continuing with the objective to create a dementia friendly community, Northern Beaches Alliance has created the Comms Card – a new tool to assist people when communicating with those living with dementia. This card contains 17 tips in an easy-to-remember, acronym format, that teach us some specific ways to communicate with people suffering from dementia.
The card includes special hints that are useful not only when speaking with our family members and loved ones, but also other members in the community. Of particular use also for those running a business where some clients/customers may have sometimes undiagnosed dementia.
Some examples of the tips included on the Comms Card are: “make eye contact and smile at me”, “find words that prompt my memory if I forget”, and “never make assumptions – dementia is different for everyone”.
The Comms Card is available for collection at various locations, and an electronic copy is also provided on our website here.
Given the fact that there are more than six thousand people living with dementia on the Northern Beaches alone, combining every possible effort can guarantee a dementia-friendly community for our neighbours.