Dementia Friendly Oak Park

A dementia-friendly community is a village, town, city or county that is informed, safe and respectful of individuals with the disease, their families and caregivers, and provides supportive options that help improve quality of life.

Local governments in dementia-friendly communities plan and implement housing, transportation, public spaces and emergency response strategies that enable people with dementia and their care partners to live productive lives.

The goal, officials say, is to ensure people with dementia can live independently for as long as possible and be engaged in the community and its activities.

Adopting such approaches is critical, officials say, because more than five million Americans are living with dementia linked to Alzheimer’s disease, a number that is expected to grow as the population ages.

An estimated 230,000 individuals afflicted with the condition live in Illinois, a number that is projected to increase to 260,000 people by 2025.

Local officials estimate that nearly 800 Oak Park residents 65 and older may now be living with dementia.

As Oak Park’s population ages, local leaders recognize a growing need to increase awareness and recognition of the signs of dementia and to train people to communicate and interact with individuals living with the debilitating condition.

The Village’s Aging in Place Commission is leading an efffort to bring the public and community leaders together to learn about and discuss dementia and develop an action plan for the future. 

The process to earn the Dementia Friendly Community designation got underway in October with a gathering of interested citizens, community leaders and other stakeholders to begin crafting the action plan.

Seeking the dementia-friendly designation is not just about the action of Village government, officials say.

Individuals of all ages and organizations private, public and faith-based must work together for the local effort to produce tangible outcomes beyond earning a designation.

For more information about the local dementia-friendly initiative — or to get involved in the process of helping make Oak Park dementia-friendly — call 708.358.5420 or email development@oak-park.us.

1. Memory loss that disrupts daily life.
2. Challenges in planning or solving problems.
3. Difficulty completing familiar tasks at home, at work or at leisure.
4. Confusion with time or place.
5. Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships.
6. New problems with words in speaking or writing.
7. Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps.
8. Decreased or poor judgment.
9. Withdrawal from work or social activities.
10. Changes in mood and personality.

For more information, visit www.alz.org/10signs or call 800.272.3900.

Oak Park businesses are encouraged to participate in dementia-friendly training that offers a basic understanding of how to identifiy customers dealing with dementia and provide them with appropriate assistance.

Click here to sign up for Dementia Friendly Business Training

The Oak Park Fire Department has created a new informational campaign to educate those working with seniors or people with cognitive impairment about fall prevention and fire safety.

All seniors need to be concerned about falls - it is the leading cause of death for people over the age of 65. But people with dementia are four to five times more likely to fall than those without cognitive impairment.

The Fire Department’s campaign highlights tips to prevent falls like making sure there is adequate lighting in a room, ensuring door sills are less than one inch, and using a shower chair. It also reviews essential fire prevention best practices like using an integrated alarm system and space heater safety, among others.

For more information about the Fall and Fire Prevention Campaign or to schedule a presentation, email fireprevention@oak-park.us.

Completed events:

• Jan. 14, 2020 - Terri Worman, Associate State Director of AARP, Illinois, presented a comparative analysis of age-friendly and dementia friendly communities.
   
• Dec. 18, 2019 - Dementia friendly screening of It's a Wonderful Life at 1 p.m. at the Lake Theatre.
   
• Dec. 4, 2019 - Thirty-three individuals attended a special business-focused dementia-friendly training session held recently at Village Hall. The training offered a basic understanding of how to identify customers dealing with dementia and provide them with appropriate assistance. Leaders from several Oak Park business district associations participated in the training along with the executive director of the Chamber of Commerce. The training session was part of Oak Park’s effort to be designated a Dementia Friendly Community by the non-profit organization Dementia Friendly America.
   
• Nov. 12, 2019 - Dementia friendly training for the public during the Aging in Place Commission at 7 p.m. in Room 101 at Village Hall.
   
• Nov. 6, 2019 - The team leading Oak Park’s efforts to become designated as a Dementia Friendly Community is invited the public to attend its first Action Team meeting set for 8:30 to 9:30 a.m., Wed., Nov. 6 in room 101 at Village Hall. The meeting included a dementia experiential training demonstration. Future efforts may include offering dementia experiential training to first responders and Village employees who regularly engage with the public. 
   
• Nov. 3, 2019 - The award-winning documentary Too Soon to Forget: The Journey of Younger Onset Alzheimer's Disease, aired at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 3 on WWTW.
   
• Oct. 17, 2019 - Kickoff meeting, 8 a.m. to noon, Thurs., Oct. 17, 2019, Nineteenth Century Club, 178 Forest Ave.
  • Meeting agenda
  • Presentation