Greendale Enhances Dementia Friendly Credentials

GREENDALE, WI —The Village of Greendale first showed its interest in being a dementia friendly community with the formation of a dementia work group in 2019. On Tuesday, the city's commitment to serving people with dementia gathered even more momentum when Greendale became part of Dementia Friendly America, a nationwide network of dementia friendly communities.

Dementia Friendly America, established in 2015, is a network of cities, counties, communities and states changing the way people think, talk and act about dementia, according to a release.

"To become more dementia friendly, we will undertake a process that encourages adoption of dementia friendly practices in all parts of our community," the Village of Greendale wrote. "We are committed to work with community partners, engage persons with dementia and their caregivers and collaborate with other agencies to lead and shape our dementia friendly activities, programs and policies."

According to the release, Greendale's commitment to becoming dementia friendly stems partly from its demographics. The village has a higher percentage of residents over age 65 than both the state of Wisconsin and Milwaukee County.

One of Greendale's early steps to becoming dementia friendly was the formation, in 2019, of SAGE (Successful Aging in Greendale), a work group of volunteers under the auspices of the Greendale Health Department. The group has worked to raise awareness and education on dementia, expand caregiver support, provide community memory screenings and become certified as a Music and Memory program community. SAGE is made up of people living with dementia, caregivers, health department staff, Board of Health members, passionate citizens and leaders from business, nonprofit and government.

According to the Village: Every part of the community plays a role in creating a dementia friendly culture. That is why Greendale is planning to develop a monthly Dementia Newsletter. Those interested in subscribing, can add their name and email address to the Dementia Newsletter e-list.