Dementia-friendly communities focus on supporting people living with dementia, so they feel welcomed, included and comfortable in places they live, work and play. By educating people about the disease and helping them understand that those living with dementia experience the world differently, these communities can reduce stigma, anxiety and frustration.

A “community” can be a location like a neighbourhood or city, but can also be groups of people with shared interests like a book club, business, local coffee shop, faith group or grocery store.

Taking steps toward a more dementia-friendly community can be as simple as learning more about dementia and making small adjustments to your social and physical environments. Small changes can make a real difference.

Social characteristics

In a dementia-friendly environment, community members recognize that:

• Everyone has a role in supporting, valuing and including people living with dementia
• A person living with dementia is more than their diagnosis
• Dementia can affect someone’s thinking, behaviour, emotions and physical capabilities

Physical characteristics

A welcoming physical environment includes:

• Open areas for activity and rest
• Clear signage at eye level
• Flat, wide and unobstructed sidewalks and walkways
• Clearly marked accessible washrooms in public spaces
• Distinctive structures that can act as landmarks

What can your community do?

Sixty per cent of people living with dementia live at home in their communities and want to continue participating in community life after a diagnosis. Supportive, dementia-friendly communities help make that possible.

There are many ways your community can become more dementia-friendly – and we can help! You can:

• Request dementia education from the Alzheimer Society to help community members understand dementia and learn how to offer appropriate assistance.
• Include people living with dementia in community or organizational programming.
• Encourage staff in your city, town or municipality – whether at libraries or community centers, or parking and by-law officers, police and firefighters – to be educated about dementia and be able to communicate effectively with people living with dementia.
• Work with others in the community, such as shopkeepers, bank tellers and bus drivers, to receive dementia education specific to their job.

Dementia-Friendly Canada created a self-paced Building Dementia-Friendly Communities online course to help professionals working in the recreation, library, retail, restaurant and public transportation sectors who are interested in fostering dementia-friendly awareness within their organizations.

This self-paced 75-minute course will give organizations the knowledge and skills needed to increase support, inclusion and accessibility (both in the social and physical environments) for people living with dementia.