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Learn How to Become a Dementia Friend

Division of Aging staff recently completed a Dementia Friends training session provided by CICOA Aging & In-Home Solutions, the state administrator for Dementia Friends Indiana. The Dementia Friends Indiana movement seeks to advance education and awareness of dementia, reduce the stigma associated with the disease, and create community environments that are welcoming and conducive for those living with dementia. Implementation of DFI in August 2017 made Indiana the 10^th state in the United States to adopt a statewide plan for building dementia-friendly communities.

Dementia is a general term for any disease that causes a change in memory and/or thinking skills that is severe enough to impair a person’s daily functioning (driving, shopping, balancing a checkbook, working, communicating, etc.). There are many different types of dementia, the most common of which is Alzheimer’s disease. It is not part of normal, healthy aging.

Between 2018 and 2025, it is projected that Indiana will experience an 18.2% increase in the number of Hoosiers aged 65+ living with Alzheimer’s Disease, bringing the total to 130,000. In 2017, 338,000 caregivers provided unpaid care valued at $4,857,000,000. The impact the growing prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias will have on the system of structured and unstructured care cannot be understated.

For more information on how you can become a Dementia Friend please visit DementiaFriendsIndiana.org.