Last Sunday, AIC organised Walk With Me: Our Journey of Remembering in Nee Soon South constituency as part of efforts to create a Dementia-Friendly Singapore. Organised in collaboration with Nee Soon South People’s Association, Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH) and Alzheimer's Disease Association - ADA, the event aimed to raise awareness on dementia among residents and highlight the community resources available to manage it.
Attendees joined in a series of activities, which included an experiential treasure hunt where participants completed activities to experience the daily challenges faced by persons with dementia (PWDs); a “Being Dementia-Friendly: I Can Play a Part!” panel discussion; a dementia prevention exercise by St Luke's ElderCare; and a dementia awareness talk by Guardian Singapore (Guardian).
Experiential treasure hunt: Designed to build a sense of empathy for persons with dementia, the activities were held at various activity stations within the vicinity of Nee Soon South constituency, including Wellness for Life @ Nee Soon South.Experiential treasure hunt: To experience the challenges and frustrations PWDs face in verbalising their thoughts, participants played charades by holding a piece of paper with an emotion on their forehead and guessing the mood their team members acted out.
Experiential treasure hunt: At another activity station, participants had to pin the tail on the donkey after being blindfolded and spun around three times. This made them experience the disorientation of time and place that PWDs face.
Experiential treasure hunt: The previously-described activity was held at Nee Soon South Community Centre, which is one of three Go-To Points in the constituency. They serve as resource centres to provide relevant services and information on dementia as well as “safe return” points for lost PWDs.
After the experiential treasure hunt, attendees gathered at the multi-purpose court at Khatib to welcome the guest of honour and panelists.
Panel discussion: (L-R) See Yen Theng, Director, Community Mental Health Division, AIC; Dr Philip Yap Lin Kiat, Senior Consultant, KTPH; Guest of honour, Er. Dr. Lee Bee Wah, Advisor for Nee Soon South constituency; Joshua Gan Ling-Kai, Vice President, DBS Group Limited; Reshma Llhode, Senior Clinical Pharmacist, Guardian; and Lew Chin Woon, Caregiver, discussed about what being dementia-friendly means and how the community can come together to achieve it.
Panel discussion: The segment ended off with the audience and panelists penning down their aspirations for a Dementia-Friendly Singapore and how they wish to contribute on “footstep cut-outs”.
Dementia prevention exercise: Stretching exercises have shown to provide a warm-up for other exercises and increase participants’ awareness of their muscles and muscle tension.
