Compass on the Bay & Standish Village Bring Dementia Friendly Training to Hingham Council on Aging

HINGHAM, MA— Members of the Hingham Council on Aging recently participated in an interactive Dementia Sensitivity Training, created and facilitated by Senior Living Residences (SLR), a Braintree-based assisted living management company. SLR strives to promote a greater sense of compassion and understanding of people with Alzheimer’s and related dementia through the Dementia Friendly Communities initiative, and this training helps participants contribute to that vision. SLR communities Compass on the Bay and Standish Village collaborated to bring the training to Hingham. 

Dean Tricarico, Director of Community Relations at Compass on the Bay, led the two-part workshop. Dean gave the presentation Understanding Dementia in the Real World, which offered participants insight into what dementia is and the best practices for communicating with those living with it. Participants then went through The Dementia Experience, an interactive sensitivity training that uses sensory modifications to simulate certain cognitive and physical limitations and asks participants to perform activities that highlight the challenges of living alone with Alzheimer’s or related dementia. The aim of the program is to capture how social isolation, nutrition, and medication error can lead to unnecessary complications while also providing an all-encompassing experience of what it would be like to have dementia. 

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SLR’s Dementia Friendly trainings are free and available to any professional or community member who wants to better understand Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia. For more information, visit DFCommunities.org.