Auckland University faculty takes on dementia friendly challenge

Waipapa Taumata Rau/The University of Auckland’s Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences (FMHS) has become the first university faculty in the country to attempt to become officially dementia friendly.

‘Working To Be Dementia Friendly’ is a category of Alzheimers NZ’s Dementia Friendly Recognition Programme (DFRP), which formally recognises businesses and organisations that become accessible to people experiencing dementia.

The number of organisations enrolled in Alzheimers NZ’s Dementia Friendly Recognition Programme doubled in 2023 and, this year, a record number of nine have been recognised as Working To Be Dementia Friendly so far.

The FMHS associate dean for equity and diversity, Emma Sadera, is leading a cross-faculty team working on the faculty’s dementia-friendly project.

She says the faculty is committed to ensuring all the communities the faculty engages with have the most equitable and accessible experience.  Being dementia friendly is part of that, she says.

“It’s a natural fit for us as a faculty.  We have a significant commitment to improving equity by creating an environment within our faculty that’s as inclusive as possible for the communities with whom we engage in our teaching, learning, and research, including our students, staff, and visitors.

“We have a research focus around brain health and cognitive disease, including the Auckland Dementia Prevention Research Clinic, and the Centre for Co-Created Ageing Research, which is also enrolled in the Dementia Friendly Recognition Programme, so becoming dementia friendly is very much aligned with that focus.

“We also run a number of public-facing clinics that may include people living with dementia and, of course, the wider university community may experience or have a connection with someone living with dementia, so we are always alert to opportunities to enhance our understanding of the lived experience.”

Sadera notes that people living with dementia have some shared and common experiences with people living with other neurocognitive disabilities and neurodivergence.

“So our work to become more dementia friendly will likely benefit others as well.”

Alzheimers NZ Chief Executive Catherine Hall welcomed the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences to the Programme, saying she is keen to see more organisations – across the private, corporate and government sectors – take up the dementia-friendly challenge.

“We all need to do more and better for our elderly, especially those living with dementia and their care partners, and I applaud the fact Emma and her team are taking up this very important challenge.”