The County of Elgin’s public library branches have been recognized for their commitment to responding to the needs of those living with dementia.
All 10 branches have been designated Dementia Friendly Communities (DFC) Supporters by the Alzheimer Society Southwest Partners.
Seanin Steele, Digital Services Librarian explains part of the designation process involved training for library staff.
“It’s always great to have subject experts do some training to give more skills and help us provide better service. And then also an action plan that we came up with. The Alzheimer Society helped a lot, but one of the parts of our action plan was the development and launch of our healthy brain kits, which we developed in very close partnership with the Alzheimer’s Society.”
Steele explains the logic behind the healthy brain kits, which contain a variety of reading material, photographic imagery and, at one level, an audio player.
She adds, “Our patrons, no matter their cognitive level, deserve access to information and great reading material. Becoming a DFC supporter seemed like a great way to provide our staff with more skills and tools to help our patrons and continue to provide the best library experience possible.”
The kits can be taken home by patrons for a period of several weeks.
Steele points out that the kits encompass five levels.
“So we have two of each level at this time. That’s what we were able to do with the funding we had at the time.”
The Level 5 kits include an audio player.
She adds, “So all these things are to give individuals living with dementia and their caregivers activities to do together.”
The DFC supporter designation builds on work that had already been underway at the Elgin County Library, such as a dementia-friendly book collection.
Each branch of the library now displays a DFC supporter decal at the entrance, which reflects the participation of more than 75 per cent of library staff in dementia-friendly training.
Elgin County Warden Dominique Giguere observes, “This recognition reflects the dedication of library staff across all 10 branches to creating environments where residents feel respected, supported and welcome.”
Steele added the DFC supporter initiative helps ensure that, “We’re serving as many people in the community as we possibly can. ”
Giguere notes, “It is another example of how Elgin County is working to ensure our services meet the needs of residents at every stage of life.”
To learn more about the Dementia Friendly Communities initiative, visit http://alzswp.ca/dfc/
Written by Ian McCallum
