Dementia-Friendly Greater Pittsburgh

Posted on

Dec 17, 2019

Book/Edition

Pennsylvania - Greater Pittsburgh Area

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Right now, 5.8 million Americans are living with Alzheimers disease, and by the year 2050, that number will jump to 14 million Americans according to the Alzheimers Association.
Currently, 400,000 Pennsylvanians over age 65 are living with Alzheimers Disease and related dementias and that number is expected to grow in the coming years. This crisis isnt going away anytime soon, and so we need to learn how to better support people who are living with dementia and their care partners and create a safe, inviting, and inclusive environment for them in our local area and in Pennsylvania.
Dementia-Friendly Greater Pittsburgh (DFGP) is a collaboration built to create awareness and engagement throughout the community about dementia and how we can support those living with dementia and their care partners. We are accomplishing this by providing education, creating opportunities for engagement, and advocating for the needs of those living with dementia and their care partners. Our efforts began as a result of our regions launch of Age-Friendly Greater Pittsburghs Action Plan in October 2017. Two of the action items directly related to Dementia Friendly Communities: Creating dementia friendly conversations and providing dementia friendly trainings. Since then, DFGP became a member of the Dementia Friendly America network, sharing in a common mission of fostering dementia friendly communities throughout the U.S.
DFGP is working with our community partners to provide educational opportunities and resources for various sectors of our business, organizational and governmental communities on how to create safe, respectful, and engaging environments for those living with dementia and their care partners. We are developing resources and toolkits for different community sectors and engaging them in developing and implementing dementia-friendly practices. One of our partners, the Jewish Healthcare Foundation has become the PA statewide coordinators for Dementia Friends. They have made over 2,000 Dementia Friends in Pennsylvania and the number continues to grow!
DFGP is always looking for more volunteers. If you have interest to partner or volunteer, email dementiafriendlygreaterpgh@gmail.com. To learn more about DFGP and our dementia-friendly community efforts, you can also visit our website at www.swppa.org/DFGP, and check out our Facebook page @DementiaFriendlyGreaterPgh or our Twitter @DF_PGH. To learn more about Dementia Friends Pennsylvania, please visit www.dementiafriendspa.org, and to learn more about Dementia Friendly America, please visit dfamerica.org.
Editors note: This article was submitted by Deanna Page, LPC, NCC. Deanna is the co-chair of Dementia-Friendly Greater Pittsburgh and may be reached by email at dementiafriendlygreaterpgh@gmail.com.

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