Neighbors Who Care and the Memory Café are part of a movement to establish Sun Lakes as a Dementia Friendly community. Dementia Friends was developed in the UK to help communities 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 not a specific disease. It is an overall term that describes a wide range of symptoms associated with a decline in memory of other thinking skills, severe enough to reduce a person’s ability to perform everyday activities.

Join local agencies, Neighbors Who Care, The Perfect Place, and Sun Lakes Creative Engagement Partners (founders of the Memory Café) in our efforts to become a Dementia Friendly community by learning more about Dementia Friends at an upcoming information session.

Two sessions are being offered. One is on Tuesday, Feb. 15, at 10:30 a.m., and the other is Tuesday, Feb. 22, at 1:30 p.m. Both sessions will be held at Neighbors Who Care offices, at 10450 E. Riggs Road., Suite 113, in Sun Lakes.

The session lasts one hour and explains the five key messages and helps attendees understand Dementia Friends and what it means to be one. 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, contact Sheryl Keeme, Neighbors Who Care executive director, at [email protected] or 480-895-7133, Ext. 170.