Royall, Juneau County host program on dementia

Editor’s note: On March 30, dementia specialists Gina Laack and Abby Heckman partnered with Royall High School student Bryce Gruen to host two different workshops on dementia. All of the participants — 31 students at the first session and 20 adults at the evening session — now are considered “Dementia Friends.” 

Laack contributed the following synopsis on the event. 

Contributed by GINA LAACK

Juneau County Dementia Specialist

Dementia Friends is a global movement helping to change the way people think, act, and talk about dementia. 

The session is led by a Dementia Friends Champion. The program focuses on five key messages about dementia and helps participants to understand what dementia is and how it affects individuals and families. 

Throughout the program, participants learn what it is like to live with the disease and tips for communicating with people who are living with dementia. Everyone who attends a Dementia Friends Session is asked to turn their new understanding of dementia into practical action that can help individuals living with dementia. The action can be as big or as small as participants choose; every action counts! 

Royall student Bryce Gruen learned that Dementia Friends is a program that the Aging and Disability Resource Center of Eagle Country Juneau County offers and requested to be trained as a Dementia Friends Champion. Bryce completed the Dementia Friends Champion training by local Dementia Care Specialist Abby Hoppe and ADRC Director Gina Laack. 

Once a person becomes trained as a Dementia Champion, they are then able to go and facilitate Dementia Friends Sessions. There are different scripts for the program that tailor to the audience, including programs specific for youth as well as the general public. 

Bryce did an outstanding job facilitating a Dementia Friends session to his peers at Royall High School, conducting an evening community session, as well as teaching third grade students at Royall Elementary about dementia through the Dementia Friends children’s book “Grandpa and Lucy” by Edie Weinstein. 

He plans to continue sharing his knowledge about dementia in efforts to help support individuals living with dementia, reduce the stigma and connect people to resources. 

To learn more about dementia and resources available, individuals may contact the ADRC at (608) 847-9371 to connect with our Dementia Care Specialist, Abby Hoppe.

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