What is a Dementia-Friendly Partner?
Dementia-Friendly Partners are corporate organisations who express interest in embarking on long term commitment to implementing dementia-friendly practices in their businesses/service delivery.
With increasing prevalence of dementia, organisations may see a rise in the number of their customers or employees living with dementia. Organisations keen to incorporate dementia-friendly practices can play a part in ensuring their businesses are well-equipped to address the growing needs in these four key areas.
1. PEOPLE: Introduce Staff Training on Dementia Awareness
Increase dementia awareness among staff, especially community front-liners where they will learn the signs and symptoms of dementia, to keep a look out and assist persons living with dementia who may be distressed or disoriented and in need of help when they visit their premises.
Options available:
- E-learning: Organisations can encourage their employees to complete a dementia awareness module at their own pace online as part of staff training programme.
- Customised workshops: Organisations can engage relevant social service agencies (i.e. Dementia Singapore and Tsao Foundation) to provide tailored training that cater to their line of service. This usually requires a charged fee to customise the training to include role-play, case studies or experiential learning.
Contact [email protected] for more details.
- In-house staff training: Organisations can incorporate the training content developed by AIC for their in-house trainers to train the staff. This would ensure new staff receive the relevant dementia training for service continuity.
2. PROGRAMME: Enhance Business Offerings
Engaging in social and recreational activities can help to prevent dementia risk for well seniors and delay dementia onset for those living with the condition. Meaningful activities can also be a form of respite for caregivers. This helps to maintain good mental well-being, and thus reduce their caregiving stress. Organisations can consider enhancing their programme offerings (i.e., arts, music, dance, sports) or introducing benefits (such as discounts and rebates) that cater to persons living with dementia and their caregivers.
3. PROCESS: Develop Internal Process to Support Persons Living with Dementia
Organisations can explore the option of putting internal practices in place to supporting persons living with dementia in their premises. For instance, public transport operators can introduce processes to assist persons living with dementia who appear lost in their transport nodes. The transport sector can also introduce the “May I have a Seat Please” lanyard which signal commuters to give up seats to people with hidden disabilities during rides on public transport.
4. PLACE: Incorporate Dementia-Friendly Infrastructure Designs
Creating a more dementia-friendly built environment enables persons living with dementia to continue navigating around safely. Such designs can be introduced in neighbourhoods, community spaces like community clubs, amenities like shops, malls and transport facilities or care settings. These designs take into consideration the cognitive needs of persons living with dementia (e.g. wider, colour-coded corridors for easier wayfinding). These modifications to the design of the built environment also benefit people of all ages.
Five identified Sectors of Dementia-Friendly Partners and their Roles
These sectors (not exhaustive) are in the position to better support persons living with dementia to live well in the community.
Role: Improve infrastructure
Rationale: Enable persons living with dementia to have better access (i.e. way-finding) and to be able to navigate around their neighbourhood safely (safer and smoother access navigating their neighbourhood)
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Role: Enhance Commuting experience
Rationale: Enable persons living with dementia to travel from one place to another with ease. Promote services that help to increase quality of life as well as recreational activities for persons living with dementia and their caregivers.
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Role: Promote mental wellness
Rationale: Promote services that help to increase quality of life as well as recreational activities for persons living with dementia and their caregivers.
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Role: Increase financial literacy
Rationale: Empower persons living with dementia and their caregivers to improve their financial planning
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Role: Increase service touchpoints
Rationale: Create more community nodes to spread dementia awareness among the larger population
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Key Sector | Partners | Roles | Rationale |
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1. Building | • Building and Construction Authority • Centre for Liveable Cities • Housing Development Board • Singapore University of Technology and Design • Town Council | Improve Infrastructure | Enable persons living with dementia to have better access (i.e., way-finding) and able to navigate around their neighborhood safely (safer and smoother access navigating their neighbourhood) |
2. Transport | • Go-Ahead Singapore • Public Transport Council • SBS Transit • SMRT Corporation Ltd • Tower Transit Singapore | Enhance commuting experience | Enable persons living with dementia and their caregivers to travel from one place to another with ease
Promote services that help to increase quality of life as well as recreational activities for persons living with dementia and their caregivers |
3. Arts & Leisure | • National Gallery Singapore • National Library Board • National Museum of Singapore • The Esplanade Co Ltd | Promote mental wellness | Promote services that help to increase quality of life as well as recreational activities for persons living with dementia and their caregivers. |
4. Banking & Finance | • DBS • POSB | Improve financial literacy | Empower persons living with dementia and their caregivers to improve their financial planning |
5. Retail | • Frasers Property Singapore • NTUC FairPrice Supermarkets • Sheng Siong Supermarkets | Increase service touchpoints | Create more community nodes to spread dementia awareness among the larger population |
Featured Collaborative Projects
These sectors were identified to be able to support persons living with dementia to live well in the community.
Learn more about existing collaborative projects with our Dementia-Friendly Partners by clicking the links below:
Dementia Awareness Training for Bank Employees
DBS/POSB has incorporated the Agency for Integrated Care’s Dementia Awareness course in its internal training. This will equip staff with skills to recognise signs of dementia in customers, and how to better communicate with people displaying signs of dementia.
Image: Development Bank of Singapore
Find Your Way Initiative
An initiative by SBS Transit to help persons living with dementia find their way around the busy bus interchanges and MRT stations. Using nostalgic murals of heritage items to aid in wayfinding.
SMRT Go-To Initiative
Go-To SMRT is an initiative by SMRT Corporation to enhance its commuter services and facilities to better serve persons living with dementia. Dementia-Friendly Go-To points serve as touch-points within the community linking those in need of help with relevant dementia-related services.
Image: SMRT
Dementia-Friendly Kindness Seats
As part of an ongoing effort to make our public transport network more dementia-friendly, all train stations across Singapore will be listed as Dementia Go-To Points (GTP) by the end of 2022. The Kindness Seats initiative highlights simple ways in which commuters can play a part to becoming a dementia-friendly nation.
Image: SMRT
Dementia-Friendly Estate
Across Yishun, Nee Soon and other neighbourhoods, ground-up community driven initiatives have emerged across Singapore to help lessen the load on carers and provide support systems for persons living with dementia.
Image: The Straits Times
Art With You
Art with You is an evidence-based museum programme developed by National Gallery in partnership with Dementia Singapore, aims to foster positive and meaningful engagements that support the wellbeing of caregivers and persons living with dementia by creating an dementia-friendly and inclusive environment.
Image: National Gallery
Sing Out Loud! Workshop for Caregivers
Sing Out Loud! is a community engagement programme by
Esplanade in partnership with Dementia Singapore (formerly Alzheimer’s Disease Association). The programme seeks to provide persons with dementia opportunities to deepen their engagement with music through the reminiscence of songs and vocal singing.
Image: Esplanade Theatres by the Bay
