To create an inclusive Dementia-Friendly Community (iDFC) in Kebun Baru (KB), a group of students from NUS Chua Thian Poh Community Leadership Centre partners with Dementia Singapore (formerly known as Alzheimer’s Disease Association) to conduct a ground-sensing study to:

• Understand KB residents’ knowledge of and attitudes toward dementia;
• Uncover what a DFC means to them; and
• Explore what can be done to make KB dementia friendly.

From late 2019 to March 2020, a collaborative project between Dementia Singapore, grassroots leaders, and community partners was conducted in the community of Kebun Baru, Ang Mo Kio. One of the initiatives in this project was the Wayfinding Project, which aimed to make wayfinding, that is, navigation of physical surroundings, easier for persons living with dementia in this community.

Discussions were held with two persons living with young-onset dementia, participants from Dementia Singapore’s Voices for Hope programme for persons living with dementia and their caregivers, and Mr Henry Kwek (Member of Parliament and Advisor for Kebun Baru Constituency). Following this, murals of familiar retro items were painted on strategically-located walls at void decks of HDB blocks in two Residents’ Committees. In effect, these murals can function as landmarks that differentiate buildings and corridors from each other, making it easier for person living with dementia to orientate themselves while moving through this vicinity.

Sources on Kebun Baru: Dementia Singapore¹

As part of the Dementia Friendly Singapore initiative spearheaded by the Ministry of Health and supported by the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) and community partners, a DFC initiative was launched in Woodlands Estate in November 2019.

A key feature of Woodland’s DFC initiative is the Dementia Friends Mobilisation Team. The team is involved in engaging and educating various segments of the community, including young persons, residents, merchants, students, and hawkers, on what dementia is, how to befriend and engage persons living with dementia, and what to do if they encounter a person living with dementia.

Another feature of the DFC initiative is the creation of 15 Go-To Points in Woodlands, which are locations where lost person living with dementia can be brought to. At Go-To Points, trained staff can provide advice, calm persons living with dementia, and aid in identifying and contacting these persons’ next-of-kin. In addition, the public can access information about dementia and these locations. Some of these points currently include shops, medical and social care centres, and a community centre.

Sources on Woodlands DFC: The Straits Times² and TODAYonline³

Yishun, like Woodlands, is also a neighbourhood in Singapore designated as a DFC. The government, private merchants, community organisations, and health and social care partners are involved in making the Yishun community more inclusive for persons living with dementia.

Like other DFCs, Yishun has dementia Go-To Points. One such point at the Sree Narayana Mission Nursing Home is a 24/7 Go-To Point, ensuring that there is round-the-clock support for persons living with dementia in Yishun.⁴

Notably, the now nationwide Forget Us Not collaborative campaign involving Lien Foundation, Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH) and Dementia Singapore, which first started as a ground-up initiative in 2016 at KTPH, has conducted education and training sessions for personnel both islandwide and in the Yishun vicinity, where KTPH is located. Amongst other initiatives that the campaign has seen, staff at KTPH’s call centre and Yishun Community Hospital, including more frequently front-facing staff such as security personnel and those stationed at public-facing areas of the hospitals, have undergone dementia training.^5,6

The neighbourhood also features blocks repainted with distinctive colours and block numbers to help persons living with dementia differentiate between them, enhancing the ease with which they navigate the area. Murals of fishes, trees and pineapples reminiscent of Yishun’s history were also created to build a sense of the area’s identity amongst residents.

Yishun Integrated Transport Hub, which opened in 2019, is an example of how infrastructure can be designed with an eye on including persons living with dementia. It features a more elder- and dementia-inclusive physical environment, with larger and more easy-to-read directional signs, barrier-free bus boarding and alighting points, and a quiet room for commuters to access a quiet and calming environment. A dementia Go-To Point allows members of the public to guide persons living with dementia to a designated place where these persons can find assistance. Staff are also trained to identify and assist persons who display signs of dementia.⁷

Another group on board with efforts to care for persons living with dementia is the Yishun North Neighbourhood Police Centre’s Citizens-on-Patrol team. Members of the citizen volunteer team are trained to detect, respond, and assist persons living with dementia while on patrol.⁸