Dementia Friendly Communities

Overview

Dementia has profound social implications for both people living with dementia and their families and carers. Often after diagnosis of dementia, people experience social isolation and discrimination. Many Australians have little understanding of dementia and are unsure of how best to respond to people living with the disease. As a result, people living with dementia and their carers often lead increasingly lonely and isolated lives, and this isolation can lead to mental health concerns including anxiety and depression and can exacerbate the symptoms associated with dementia. With appropriate support, they can remain actively engaged and connected with the community.   The objective of the grant opportunity is to continue operation of Dementia Friendly Communities (DFC) activities, which aim to build greater awareness, acceptance, and understanding of dementia in the community. The existing Dementia Friendly Communities activity has created local programs that leveraged community resources to raise awareness about dementia within the community and to improve access to opportunities for social engagement for people living with dementia and their carers. In the next funding period, DFC activities will include:  expanding the Dementia Friends program  offering increased and enhanced dedicated support for community-led Dementia Friendly Communities initiatives further resourcing the Dementia Friendly Communities Hub  increasing the number of DFC coordinators to better support DFC participants in WA, Tasmania, the NT, and SA in particular partnering with more businesses and organisations responsible for areas frequented by people living with dementia to make them more inclusive of and friendly to people living with dementia  To view the grant opportunity documents, please select the red "Grant Opportunity Documents" button on the left hand side.