Neighbors Who Care and Creative Engagement Partners have applied for Dementia Friendly Sun Lakes as a Dementia Friendly community. Many in Sun Lakes have already been trained in understanding dementia and how to best help friends living with it. This means that residents here care and are part of a movement to help our community of people understand five key messages about dementia, how it affects people, and how we can make a difference in the lives of people living with memory loss.

People living with dementia need to be supported in the communities they live in. In Sun Lakes, you can help by becoming a Dementia Friend as Sun Lakes seeks Dementia Friendly status.

Dementia is an overall term that describes a wide range of symptoms associated with a decline in memory or other thinking skills, severe enough to reduce a person’s ability to perform everyday activities.

Join us by learning more about Dementia Friends at September’s information session. A Champions Training Session is also scheduled so more volunteers in Sun Lakes may be trained to help share this vital information.

The Dementia Friendly Info Session is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 8, at 10:30 a.m. and will be held at Neighbors Who Care offices, at 10450 E. Riggs Road, Ste. 113, in Sun Lakes.

The Dementia Friendly Champions Training Session is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 13, at 10:30 a.m.

Both sessions last one hour and explain the five key messages and help attendees understand Dementia Friends and what it means to be one. The Champions class also focuses on how to present the material to others.

The goal is to help community members understand dementia, become less intimidated by interacting with people living with it, and learn small ways they can make a difference for people living with dementia. Read more about what Dementia Friendly Communities are at www.dfamerica.org.

To sign up, email Sheryl Keeme, Neighbors Who Care Executive Director, at [email protected] or call 480-895-7133, Ext. 170.