The South Side community of Hyde Park has become Chicago’s first neighborhood to be designated as a Dementia Friendly community by Dementia Friendly America. No other community in Chicago has earned an official designation as a Dementia Friendly community from Dementia Friendly America.
To achieve the designation, Chicago Hyde Park Village, The Memory Center, and the SHARE Network at University of Chicago Medicine collaborated to bring the Dementia Friendly initiative to the attention of other stakeholders in the Hyde Park community on Chicago’s South Side. To be designated as a Dementia Friendly community, the groups had to convene a diverse team with a minimum of 3 sectors represented, demonstrate that people living with dementia are included, have leadership roles in the initiative, and adopt and communicate dementia-friendly practices and change goals.
Dementia Friendly America is a group that seeks to raise awareness about the impact of dementia on communities. Dementia Friendly America 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.
Chicago Hyde Park Village, The Memory Center, and the SHARE Network at University of Chicago Medicine collaborate to benefit those with Dementia in Chicago’s south side The three entities previously partnered to bring dementia-friendly events to Chicagoland, and have collectively been providing dementia care programming throughout the neighborhood over the last several years. They are also the team behind the first dementia friendly Chicago river cruise, which gave exclusive access for those with diagnosed memory loss and their care partners a chance to enjoy riverfront Chicago skyline views with others that share common experiences.
This was jointly reported by Chicago Hyde Park Village, SHARE Network, and The Memory Center at University of Chicago Medicine on September 28, 2020.
Contact information: Dorothy Pytel, Chicago Hyde Park Village, 5500 South Woodlawn Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60637; 773-441-8457; Email: dorothy.pytel@chpv.org; Website: https://www.chpv.org/
Contact information: Dementia Friendly America, National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, 1100 New Jersey Avenue Southeast, Suite 350, Washington, District of Columbia 20003; 202-872-0888; Email: info@dfamerica.org; Website: https://www.dfamerica.org/
