Shaw Public Library Becomes 'Dementia Friendly' With Help From CCAAA

The Progress News reports that five employees and one board member of the Shaw Public Library in Clearfield, Pa., have become "Dementia Friends" as part of an initiative to address the stigma and lack of understanding about dementia. The Dementia Friends program is designed to change people's perceptions of dementia by transforming how people think, talk, and act about the disease. About 400,000 Pennsylvanians are living with Alzheimer's and related dementias, and Dementia Friends Champions serve as volunteers who inform people about being a Dementia Friend in their communities. The Shaw Library group attended a one-hour information session hosted by local Dementia Friends Champion Julie Fenton, director of outreach with the Clearfield County Area Agency on Aging. "I was so pleased to see these individuals showing their support for those living with dementia by participating in the session and becoming 'Dementia Friends,'" Fenton said. "We need to create more dementia-friendly communities so that people affected by dementia feel understood and included."