Hillingdon Dementia Friendly Community: engaging local businesses and organisations
Hillingdon, a Dementia Friendly Community in London, has been successful in encouraging local organisations to take dementia friendly actions. Louise, Dementia Friendly Development Officer for London and the South East caught up with Sarah Durner, a senior officer in the Public Health team at Hillingdon Council and the borough’s Community Lead, to find out more about how they’ve been engaging organisations locally.
How do you choose which organisations to approach and how do you start those conversations?
“Everything starts with our local people living with dementia. I visit groups locally, speaking to people directly to find out what it is they want to do, whether that’s going to the cinema or going to the local shopping centre. From there, I’ll reach out to the cinema, theatre or shopping centre to say ‘We’d like to bring a group of people living with dementia to come shopping or to see a play, what can you offer to support us?’.
Often, you’ll find there are support options already available that just aren’t publicly known about, and we’ll offer a Dementia Friends session in advance if they felt that would boost staff confidence levels and work with them to plan the visit. Once we’ve carried out the activity, the organisation has already completed one or two dementia friendly actions, and it’s at this stage I might introduce the idea of joining the Dementia Friendly Community and applying for recognition. They’ve now already met local people with dementia, offered support, had successful engagement and have realised that dementia inclusivity isn’t as daunting as they may have first thought!”
What would you say has been the biggest challenge for you engaging organisations over the last year?
“Restructures can be a big challenge. You might be working with someone in an organisation who is really fantastic, and then they leave and there is a risk of the work stalling or dementia becoming less of a priority for that business. Consistency in communication is vital, to have regular check ins with Community members so you are aware of these challenges as and when they are happening, so you can identify a new contact or driver for the work as soon as possible.”
Do you find all organisations engage in the same way once onboarded with the Dementia Friendly Community?
“No. We find some organisations will invest a lot into dementia friendly work over a shorter period of time, so for example have a year where dementia is a focus, whereas other organisations take more of a slow and steady approach to engagement and dementia friendly progress, these are the ones most likely to regularly attend Community meetings."
Do you have any top tips for other Communities on engaging local organisations and businesses?
•When running your Dementia Friendly Communities meetings, we start off with member updates. This means there is an expectation that you need to be actively carrying out dementia friendly work.
•Who you approach and work with should always be led by the needs and interests of local people living with dementia. Carry out a visit or an activity with that organisation and local dementia group before introducing the recognition to show that dementia friendly provision is achievable and to break down the fear of the unknown.
•Develop actions and goals that are achievable for that business and organisation. What can you each bring to the table? What are they already doing that could be developed or opened up to also benefit people affected by dementia?
•Find out if the organisation has dedicated staff members or objectives to work with disabilities, hard to reach or minority groups. How does dementia friendly recognition tick their boxes?
•Meaningful engagement that produces the best outcomes requires time, consistent communication and not being afraid to ask – you’ll find people are far more willing to help than you might think!
