The town of Washington officially became a "Dementia Friendly City" at the beginning of the year. Now, volunteers continue to work on new ways to support residents with dementia.
Officials told WCBU the designation, bestowed by the organization Dementia Friendly America, meant the town would become an easier place to exist for those with memory loss. Since then, volunteers have held training sessions and started community-wide conversations about how to support those living with diseases that cause dementia and their caretakers.
One of those sessions happened at Crossroads Global Methodist Church Thursday. Tazewell County Director for the Central Illinois Agency on Aging Terry Hillegonds led a group of about a dozen community members and business owners through the basic facts of dementia, the warning signs and how to interact with someone struggling with symptoms.
Hillegonds helped kick start the program in Washington after hearing about it at an Agency on Aging meeting.
“It just interests me, you know, I’m retired, I don’t have a lot going on,” he said. “So, it seemed to be something I thought Washington would be a good fit for that, so let’s give it a try.”
In his presentation, Hillegonds provides tips for communication: coming from the front and keeping eye contact when talking, using short simple phrases and repeating as needed, providing statements rather than questions and giving visual cues, among other things.
He also talks about the importance of supporting caretakers.
“That’s a hard job to do and it’s very frustrating and it’s endless. I mean, it’s 24 hours a day,” Hillegonds said. “So I think the more support we can give to caregivers, the better off we’re going to be.”
One of these initiatives has already started, a regular community support group at the Methodist Church for caretakers to meet, talk and get connected with resources.
Hillegonds says the Washington arm of Dementia Friendly America has conducted about four of the training sessions so far, including sessions with the fire and police departments.
The city is exploring the possibility of identification bracelets distributed by the police department for those with dementia, in case they need help contacting a caretaker or finding a way home.
But the efforts at city services expand beyond the emergency responders.
“We do a lot with outreach, so we actually bring materials to those who can’t easily get to the library, whatever their reason may be,” said Savannah McClellan, outreach librarian at the Washington District Library. “So, in some cases, it could be that they’re having some memory issues and they’re not allowed to be driving anymore. So we do twice monthly deliveries for those materials.”
Besides the deliveries, the library has also developed new programs aimed specifically at those with memory issues.
"Stay Sharp Kits," as the library has named them, contain a themed assortment of activities and materials to provide some mental stimulation. As an example, McClellan has one all about dogs.
“So, there’s some games relating to dogs, there’s some information. And it kind of helps bring back memories of, you know, times you had with your pets and stuff like that,” she said.
Though you may not immediately associate a library with supporting dementia care, McLellan says it's important for Washington organizations to get involved however they can.
“As a library, you know, we’re always trying to meet the needs of our community. And some of those community members, they’re having issues with memory loss, they’re having issues with dementia,” she said. “And so, we’re trying to meet them where they are and help improve those things for people in our community.”
That even includes the transportation in Washington. Jim Bremner is the Washington Township Supervisor and an outspoken advocate of a CityLink partnership that gives Washington seniors rides in-town for just a couple dollars, and to surrounding towns for six.
“We’re an aging society, and that’s in every community. But here, we want to try to address that, through the dementia side,” Bremner said. “My own story is my father passed away from it two years ago and he had it about two years before he passed. When you get to the late stages, it’s not very friendly. It’s a tough thing.”
Bremner has gone through a training session himself and thinks it's a good tool to raise the general level of awareness of the community.
Chevie Kriete, the Director of the Washington Chamber of Commerce, hopes the next step is more Washington businesses reaching out to Hillegonds, undergoing their own training and putting "Dementia Friendly" stickers in the windows of shops all over town.
A business, she says, may be one of the first places a person notices signs of dementia.
“If we can make sure that our front-facing customer service people in the community are aware of the signs of dementia, we can just make sure that people are aware, nobody gets themselves into trouble. And we just are really mindful of those in our community that are interacting with us on a daily basis,” said Kriete.
Washington is one of 30 Illinois cities to have the Dementia Friendly designation. Nearby Eureka is also working on earning the title.
