Approach
Education
Our education-focused approaches aim to increase public awareness and understanding of dementia in the community, and our reach includes people of all ages, as we recognise the need for not just the elderly, but also their family members, to identify early signs of dementia in the aged.
Door-to-Door Publicity
Door-to-door publicity efforts were conducted to raise awareness about dementia as well as our then-upcoming screening event. Posters and brochures were distributed as educational materials.
Interactive Exhibition
A public exhibition was held prior to our screening event as interactive booths and posters were set up to educate the public about risks factors of dementia. Informative booths aimed to clarify doubts about dementia and also provided avenues to seek help.
Social Media
Our social media approach focuses on three main platforms: Facebook, Instagram and our website. With over a thousand followers on Instagram, we aim to spread awareness about dementia via disseminating bite-sized dementia-related information easy for the public to absorb.
Screening
Our annual public screening event aims to identify early signs of dementia and depression in the elderly through various screening modalities.
Our screening modalities include:
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1. Cognitive tests
- Brief Dementia Test
- Geriatric Depression Tests (Geriatric Depression Scale and UCLA 3 Item Loneliness Scale)
- Luben Social Network Scale
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2. Timed Get-up-and-Go Test
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3. Frailty Scale
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4. Functional screening
Follow-Up
Our follow-up approach focuses on elderly who were previously identified via our screening event, as we referred them to reliable avenues for help or enrolled them in programmes which could slow the onset of dementia and depression.
Integrated Referrals System
Participants who were deemed to have a severe risk of dementia were referred to our partners such as NUH G-RACE for further assessment of their conditions, while participants with physical ailments (high fall risk, hypertension) were given lifestyle counselling by our committee members and/or referred to the various general hospitals in Singapore. Those with social issues were also referred to appropriate social support organisations for help.
HealthyMinds! Programme
This programme was designed and adapted through various consultations with doctors and aims to slow down the progression of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). Our committee members conducted weekly sessions for participants who were evaluated to be at risk of MCI in our screening and sessions comprised of mind-stimulating exercises and various activities to facilitate the social interaction between the elderly participants.
COVID-19 Initiatives
After COVID-19 struck, many of our large-scale events such as our exhibitions and screening could not be held with social capacity restrictions in place. Hence, we had to explore other avenues to keep our vision going, leading to the formation of these programmes.
iRemember Dialogue
The iRemember Dialogue was an online conference with healthcare professionals in November 2021 with an audience of over 300, including caregivers of elderly with dementia. Our aim was to increase awareness of dementia, geriatric depression, as well as to educate caregivers on how to spot early signs of these conditions and what they could do to help. Various healthcare professionals were invited to speak about dementia, geriatric depression as well as caregiver burnout, following which, a live panel discussion was conducted where the audience could send in questions for the panelists.
CallPals!
Call Pals, a 3-month long tele-befriending programme to reach out to elderly identified by Lions Befrienders to be at risk of social isolation, involved weekly calling sessions with engaging games and activities in order to reduce risks of dementia and social isolation. Physical meet-ups between volunteers and their assigned elderly were also conducted whilst adhering to Covid-19 regulations, and we are glad to share that many volunteers have continued to befriend their elderly even after Call Pals.
