Turning Information into Action

Last spring, the Town of Saltcoats hosted our Dementia Community Coordinator a presentation to help residents learn more about dementia warning signs and what a dementia friendly community means. After attending the presentation, Merle Wiley (pictured above,) a local resident and care partner, began to take note of some of the areas in the community that could be enhanced to be more accessible and easy-to-navigate for people living with dementia and their care partners.

Merle contacted the Alzheimer Society for resources to draft a letter to the Saltcoats Town Council regarding her community observations. Town Council was quick to respond and invite Merle and our Dementia Community Coordinator to tour Town-sanctioned buildings and provide recommendations for increasing each environment’s dementia friendliness.

The tour took place on February 28^th with the Town of Saltcoats’ Head Administration Officer, along with other building representatives. The group walked through the Town’s Administrative Office, Town Hall, library, and curling rink looking at things like signage, lighting, mobility hazards, and other considerations. During the tour, we shared our Alzheimer Society of Saskatchewan toolkits for municipalities and libraries with staff and also discussed communications strategies for them to use when supporting residents living with dementia.

During the tour, the curling rink’s technician disappeared for several minutes to go add hooks to the washroom doors – a dementia friendly consideration he picked up during the tour – so that guests can hang personal belongings and assistive devices if needed. The ice technician mentioned how Saltcoats currently has an accessible curling night during the regular curling season and, even though the hooks were added as a dementia friendly approach, they will likely benefit everyone who visits the rink.

The Town of Saltcoats is a shining example of our belief that community changes everything for people living with dementia and their care partners. We thank the Town for welcoming us into their places of businesses and for having open conversations about how to make their spaces and programming more welcoming and inclusive for people affected by dementia. We look forward to more updates from Saltcoats as we continue our relationships there.

SaskAbilities Life Enrichment Program

On the same day as the Town of Saltcoats’ dementia friendly tour, our Dementia Community Coordinator and First Link Coordinator for Yorkton, Melville, and the surrounding rural areas connected with SaskAbilities’ Life Enrichment Program. SaskAbilities is another collaborating organization in the Dementia Supports in Rural Saskatchewan project. Part of their program is organizing monthly lunch meetups in different communities around Yorkton, Melville, and the surrounding rural areas for people living with dementia and their care partners, and February’s just happened to be in Saltcoats. These get-togethers are an opportunity for program participants to continue building bonds with each other outside of their regular programming hours.

During the lunch outing, we shared tailored a presentation for the group to help them learn more about Alzheimer Society of Saskatchewan supports and resources. Program attendees were excited to meet Carolee Zorn, our First Link Coordinator for the area, and learn how she can help provide individualized support to individuals, families, friends, and care partners affected by dementia. To learn more about our First Link ® Program across Saskatchewan, please click here.

Esterhazy Golden Jets

Earlier this year, the Esterhazy Golden Jets, an older adult social club, connected with us to organize an ABC’s of Dementia – our warning signs presentation - for their members. Before the presentation, our Dementia Community Coordinator also met with building staff and volunteers to provide a dementia friendly orientation.

The event was sponsored by three local pharmacies, who took copies of our pharmacies dementia friendly toolkit to help better serve people affected by dementia. Thank you to the Golden Jets for organizing the event and helping grow your community’s knowledge of dementia.