DEMENTIA FRIENDLY COMMUNITIES<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n

DEMENTIA COUNCELING SERVICES NETWORK\u00a0<\/strong>WITHIN MUNICIPALITIES ALL OVER GREECE,\u00a0<\/strong>IN COLLABORATION WITH THE NATIONAL INTERMUNICIPAL NETWORK\u00a0<\/strong>OF HEALTHY CITIES<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are currently 200,000 people living with dementia in Greece and 400,000 family carers looking after them. Although there is a National Action Plan for dementia and Alzheimer\u2019s disease in place and there are Memory Clinics and Day Care Centers for people with dementia in the large cities of Greece, compared to existing needs, services are woefully inadequate. Large areas of the country are not covered by any specialized facilities. Athens Alzheimer Association (AAA) in collaboration with the Greek National Network of Healthy Municipalities has developed a project called \u201cBuilding Counseling Services network for Dementia within municipalities all over Greece\u201d which aims to provide care to people with dementia and education and support to their carers in the local communities.<\/p>\n

The project is implemented in two phases:<\/p>\n

PHASE A:<\/strong> April-October 2018: 133 health and social care professionals from the 55 municipalities from all over Greece participated in online synchronous and asynchronous training via virtual specially developed training platform. Training consisted of eight 2-hour classes, followed by practical on the job training at the Day Care Centers of Alzheimer Associations in Athens and Thessaloniki.<\/p>\n

PHASE B:<\/strong> November 2018: 55 Dementia Counseling Centers will operate in participating municipalities staffed by their already trained personnel, offering:<\/p>\n

\u25cf Programs for people with dementia: Memory Clinic (early diagnosis and effective follow-up), integrated non-pharmacological interventions<\/p>\n

\u25cf Support groups, psychoeducational interventions and counseling services for carers<\/p>\n

The objectives of the project are:<\/p>\n

\n
• To raise awareness and promote prevention of dementia in the public<\/li>\n
• To decrease the stigma of the disease and organize dementia action groups in local communities<\/li>\n
• To foster independence and autonomy of people with dementia with the use of new technologies<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

  Greek Alzheimer Associations have committed to support the municipal Dementia Counseling Centers with regular visits of experienced health professionals, printed material, seminars and events for the first 2 years of operation.<\/p>\n

  For more information visit www.dementia-community.gr<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

  BUILDING DEMENTIA FRIENDLY COMMUNITIES<\/strong><\/p>\n

  A dementia friendly community is a place or space in which people with dementia and their carers are empowered and supported. For people living with dementia to remain engaged within their communities, businesses and organisations need to demonstrate awareness, respect and responsiveness. For this purpose Athens Alzheimer Association is running an educational program specially designed for their employees in order to make these places dementia friendly.<\/p>\n

  The main pillars of the program are:<\/p>\n

  \u25cf Encouraging organisations to establish dementia friendly approaches and implement strategies that help people with dementia.<\/p>\n

  \u25cf Training employees to recognize the person with dementia and behave accordingly.<\/p>\n

  \u25cf Building physical environments, accessible and easy to navigate for people with dementia..<\/p>\n

  \u25cf Raising awareness amongst employees to prevent dementia and eliminate stigma.<\/p>\n

  \u25cf Supporting employees\/colleagues who care for a person with dementia.<\/p>\n

  Overall, our aim is to lay the foundations for the creation of dementia-friendly communities in Greece. Our inspiration of a dementia friendly community includes friends, neighbors, lay people, shops and businesses, children and young adults and all involved stakeholders that understand and appreciate the condition. It is a community where people with dementia will live as independently as possible and they will be valued, understood and respected.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

  [\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text][\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  [vc_row full_height=”yes” equal_height=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1503550952613{padding-right: 10% !important;padding-left: 10% !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/6″ el_class=”bottom-align” offset=”vc_hidden-xs”][vc_column_text el_class=”align-bottom”][\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”5\/6″ offset=”vc_col-xs-12″][vc_column_text]About us Alzheimer Athens Athens Alzheimer Association is a non-profit organization founded in 2002 by people with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1886","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","pmpro-has-access"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n