News - June 28, 2019

Arlington Receives Official “Dementia Friendly Community” Designation

Our Dementia Friendly Arlington (DFArlington) team is excited to announce that we have received official designation from the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging as a Dementia Friendly Community! Goodwin House Bailey’s Crossroads is a member of the Dementia Friendly Arlington Coalition.

What is a Dementia Friendly Community?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are currently around 50 million people living with dementia in the United States, with this number expected to increase to 80 million by 2030 and a staggering 152 million by 2050. Dementia is a community issue that must be addressed at a community level. A dementia friendly community is informed, safe and respectful of individuals with dementia and their families, provides supportive options cross community sectors and fosters quality of life. Every part of the community has a unique role in fostering meaningful access to and engagement in community life for people living with dementia and their family and friend care partners.

What is Dementia Friendly America?

Dementia Friendly America (DFA) is a multi-sector, national, regional, state and local collaboration seeking to advance dementia friendly communities across the United States. DFA fosters local community transformation using tools, resources and technical assistance designed to equip communities to better support people living with dementia and their care partners. The Dementia Friendly America movement began in September 2015 following the White House Conference on Aging and is based upon Minnesota’s statewide successful initiative, ACT on Alzheimer’s. Led by DFA, communities across the nation are taking action and becoming dementia friendly by leveraging tailored resources and tools for community sectors. There are more than 200 communities across 40 states in the process of becoming dementia friendly.

Dementia Friendly Arlington

The Dementia Friendly Arlington initiative is led by an action team of individuals, some of whom represent organizations such as Goodwin House Bailey’s Crossroads, local government entities, residential care services and home care providers, in addition to volunteers who are community members and caregivers. Within our first year of designation, our action team will focus efforts on providing training to first responders and faith-based organizations who are often those most aware of persons with dementia. Another priority of our action team will be to raise awareness about dementia within the community by becoming Dementia Champions and providing members of the general community opportunities to become Dementia Friends. Our DFArlington action team members are passionate about serving those with dementia and their caregivers. We are sharing and spreading that passion with the Arlington community as we advance awareness of dementia and provide support to make it easier for all of us to share the experience of living with dementia.

Get Involved!

If you would like to join our action team, please email Lindsey LeClair at lleclair@goodwinliving.org or our DFArlington address at DFArlington@goodwinliving.org for more information. Feel free to pass along our contact information to those who may also want to get involved!
We would like to thank our dedicated action team members for their hard work, as well as the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (N4A) and LeadingAge Virginia for all of their support. We are eager to start our work within Arlington to educate members of the community in order to create a safe and respectful environment for those living with dementia and their caregivers.