Your next online Webinar "A Meeting of The Minds", is being presented by Nick Guggisberg and DAI member Dennis Frost, "The Dementia Friendly Kiama Community Pilot Project"
July 27, 2016 - 1.30 PM (PDT - San Francisco) USA
July 28, 2016 - 6.30 AM Sydney (AEST) AUSTRALIA
Please note: we have set up this event based on the time zone in Australia, to ensure the registration system does not close ahead of the Webinar - but - it is being held on July 27 in the USA/UK/EU and July 28 in Australia/NZ/Japan.
Register here...
Many people with dementia now see the Kiama DFC Pilot Project as the GOLD STANDARD of any Dementia Friendly Community project or initiative in the world. Please join us to find out why.
Last month, Nick Guggisberg and Melissa Andrews, on behalf of the project, received a National Local Government Innovation Award in the Access and Inclusion category.
Congratulations to them, and to the full team behind the pilot project, as well as the members of the Southern Dementia Advisory Group (alias, the Kiama DAG's), led by Dennis Frost.
About the Webinar session: This Project is a partnership between Kiama Council, The University of Wollongong (UOW), Alzheimer’s Australia and the Kiama Community. The project uses an Action Research model to track progress, and works within a community development framework.
Basic Structure of the Project
- Kiama Dementia Alliance – individuals, service & peak organisations, and people with dementia.
- Dementia Advisory Group - People with Dementia (PWD) and their carers/supporters/partners, who advise on and oversee the whole project including participating in all education sessions.
Having an active Dementia Advisory Group from the outset makes this project unique.
Action Plan includes:
- Training volunteers to support PWD to participate in community activities,
- Information sessions, public lectures and education to raise awareness,
- Making the local environment more accessible
Project Objectives:
- Increased community awareness and understanding of dementia
- Broadening of opportunities for social participation for PWD
- Dementia-friendly organisations & businesses
- Improvements to the physical environment through using the UOW Environmental Audit Tool
- Mapping of Dementia-friendly organisations and places
Already there is anecdotal evidence of substantial progress towards these objectives.
Initial research surveys conducted at the start of the project will be repeated in 2016 to measure change in the Dementia-friendliness of Kiama.
About Nick: Nick spent the first half of his adult life experiencing broader Australia, playing and teaching music throughout the whole continent while largely based in Alice Springs. Nick drew on his broad range of life experiences during his studies to hone and shape these experiences and insights into skills and knowledge that he could apply professionally as a Social Worker. Since graduating with a Social Work degree, Nick has largely worked in the Community Development field working with Social Housing Tenants, managing a Youth Service, managing a Foster Care program, and currently works as the Manager Community & Cultural Development for Kiama Municipal Council. It is in his role at council that Nick oversees the council’s involvement in the Dementia Friendly Kiama Project. As a Social Worker, social justice is at the heart of everything Nick turns his attention to, so when the opportunity to facilitate Kiama Council joining the partnership with Wollongong University and Alzheimer’s Australia to pilot dementia-friendly strategies in Kiama, Nick jumped at the opportunity.
About Dennis: Dennis was diagnosed with younger onset Front-Temporal Dementia 3 years ago at age 59. Prior to that worked part time as a teacher in TAFE and part time as IT support engineer in TAFE as well as running his own IT support business for 25 years. Since diagnosis Dennis has been working tirelessly to promote awareness of Dementia, to advocate for people with Dementia and to break down social stigmas associated with dementia. Dennis is chairman of the Dementia Friendly Kiama Project’s Dementia Advisory Group (and some might say a real DAG). In April 2016 Dennis will travel to Budapest, Hungary to share the successes of the Dementia Friendly Kiama Project to the 31st International Conference of Alzheimer’s Disease International.
Wednesday July 27, 2016 (USA/CA/EU/UK):
Start times:
- 1.30 p.m. Pacific Time (San Francisco);
- 2.30 p.m. Mountain Time (Denver);
- 3.30 pm Central Time (Chicago; Des Moines)
- 4.30 p.m. Eastern Time (Washington DC);
- 1.30 p.m. Vancouver, Canada;
- 10.30 a.m. in Honolulu, Hawaii;
- 9.30 p.m. in the UK;
- 10.30 p.m. in Paris and Budapest
Thursday July 28, 2016 (AU/NZ/JAPAN)
Start times:
- 6.30 a.m. in Brisbane; Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne;
- 4.30 a.m. in Perth;
- 6.00 a.m. in Adelaide;
- 8.30 a.m. in Auckland, New Zealand;
- 5.30 a.m. in Tokyo, Japan
The WEBINAR will run for 1.5 hours.
To check the time in your city, if not listed above, please open the link here:
You will receive an email confirmation that contains login details and instructions on how to join the online Webinar.
Please note: Attending our events supports everyone connected to dementia, whether the person diagnosed, our care partners, or the professionals and research community who work to support us and improve our lives.
We charge a minimal fee of $45 USD for anyone who is employed. Most will be able to claim the cost of the tickets as a tax deduction.
Students are charged $15 USD - please send proof of your student ID to [email protected]
We have to rely on an HONOUR registration system, and trust that if you are employed, you will not instead register as an unemployed family supporter (carer).
The modest fee for this webinar supports your education and our community, and also supports our work, which directly enables people with dementia to more proactively and positively support themselves.
Register here...
If you need a certificate of attendance, please email us at [email protected]
The Webinar is FREE for people with dementia and unemployed family carers.
Your donations are always appreciated and do make a difference:
- $7.00 USD covers the average cost of one of our monthly bank fees
- $50.00 USD covers the average of the cost of our monthly Zoom subscription fee
- $100.00 USD covers the average monthly cost of the MailChimp subscription
- $300.00 USD covers the current cost of 3 months of website management fees
Option: Our nonprofit partner, PayPal charges us a transaction fee to cover fees and other processing costs, to securely process your donation. Please consider adding an additional small amount to your donation so 100% of your donation amount goes to Dementia Alliance International. Donations can be made here