Dementia‐friendly communities: what the project “Creating a dementia‐friendly York” can tell us

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to outline the findings from a research and development project to determine how York might become a more dementia‐friendly city and, in drawing out the features, to discuss the benefits for other places.

Design/methodology/approach

The project team worked with existing groups and individuals, including people with dementia and family carers, established a cross sector operational group formed of statutory and non‐statutory sectors, and developed a wider network to share news and ideas.

Findings

York as a city is already responding in many positive ways to the needs of people with dementia and their carers, but there is much more that can be done, there and elsewhere. The project proposes a model – People, Places, Networks and Resources – for analysing the suitability and helpfulness of existing arrangements or features of a place or an organisation in order to realise a more dementia‐friendly community.

Research limitations/implications

The research was commissioned by and restricted to the City of York but there are lessons that can be taken and applied elsewhere. The project was also primarily concerned with the experience of people with dementia, generally post diagnosis, exploring their normal everyday lives as well as the contact they had and interventions from the statutory agencies. Reaching people with dementia who had not yet been diagnosed, or those on the margins of society, especially those living alone, proved hard to achieve.

Practical implications

The numbers of people with dementia are expected to double over the next 30 years, with a shrinking of the working population and a tripling of costs to the NHS and social care. The proposed model can be applied anywhere to support the creation of dementia‐friendly communities that understand how to help.

Social implications

The concept of “dementia‐friendliness” is not the exclusive domain of the health and social care world. On the contrary, the research reveals that it is the daily attrition of everyday life where help is most needed. People with dementia and family carers find routine activities most difficult – shopping, managing finances, using transport, keeping active – causing them to withdraw. There are moral, economic and business reasons why we should support people to live well with their dementia, as well as reasons of health and well‐being.

Originality/value

This project makes a substantial contribution to the literature on what constitutes a dementia‐friendly community and how to achieve it. It highlights the need for a wider information and awareness raising campaign for the general public and for anyone working directly with the public.

Citation

Crampton, J. and Eley, R. (2013), "Dementia‐friendly communities: what the project “Creating a dementia‐friendly York” can tell us", Working with Older People, Vol. 17 No. 2, pp. 49-57. https://doi.org/10.1108/13663661311325463