A new dementia-awareness group has launched in New Westminster – but not where you might expect.
Instead of organizing out of a seniors centre, like Century House, the Initiative for Neuroscience and Dementia (IND) is based out of New Westminster Secondary School across the street, and its members are all teens.
Since the fall, the group has met weekly, run hot chocolate sales and a Lunar New Year fundraiser, and organized a “Communi-Tea for Dementia Awareness” event, all in an effort to spread information about dementia and collect money for research.
The club – a branch of a larger, youth-run organization based in Ontario – was founded by Grade 10 student Iva Demirova.
“I heard about the organization from a friend who was friends with the guy that formed the whole organization,” Demirova told the Record. “I am very interested in science, and I’m possibly pursuing a career in neuro science, so the club really spoke to me, and I’ve also got a grandparent who passed away with dementia, so it was an issue that was close to home.”
After forming the club, Demirova invited New West senior social planner John Stark to one of its meetings to talk about the city’s dementia-friendly city initiatives.
“The members were really inspired after all that he told us,” Demirova said.
But the inspiration went both ways, according to Stark, who also spoke at the group’s Communi-Tea earlier this month.
“I was just blown away,” he said. “When I was invited, I thought maybe five or six students would show up; in fact, there were 30 ... It really left an impression on me. It even gets me emotional.”
One of the group’s main goals is to reduce the stigma around dementia, so that people with the disease stay engaged in the community and get the support they need.
The Communi-Tea organized by the group was a way to get people young and old talking about dementia.
New Westminster MLA Judy Darcy, who attended the event, lauded their efforts in the provincial legislature.
“People with dementia experience tremendous social isolation and are made to feel invisible, and they all need our love and our support,” Darcy said to her fellow MLAs April 21. “What was most inspiring of all was seeing students standing with, and for, our seniors, holding hands, so to speak, across generations on this important issue, giving us hope that a better world is possible.”
Elizabeth Michno, one of a handful of community members who joined NWSS students for the Communi-Tea, was also impressed by their initiative.
She had come, she told the Record, because she suspected she might be starting to experience the effects of dementia.
She said raising awareness around the problem is important.
“What does bother me is if I’m with my friends,” Michno said. “Because if I forget what they said five minutes ago, they get kind of short with me. That bothers me … It would be really good if people became more conscious of the fact that dementia is occurring at an increasing rate and that they need to be sensitive.”
Demirova said she was happy with her club’s first community event, and plans to organize more in the future.
In the meantime – as its first year winds down – the club is still hoping to reach its fundraising target of $800. It has $300 so far.
For more information, email [email protected] or visit the group’s NWSS Initiative for Neuroscience and Dementia Facebook page.
