Way Back Home SG was a campaign that aimed to tackle the stigma of dementia through targeted messaging and tactics. It demonstrated how a specific, targeted approach could change the attitudes and behaviour of even a target audience that had typically been considered difficult to reach out to (i.e. university students, because of the difficulty in sustaining a constant pool of volunteers).
The campaign made use of education and interaction to change the attitudes and behaviours of students towards persons with dementia, and the main target audience were NTU students.
Click the image below to hear from student volunteers on their thoughts, after they had brought a group of seniors with dementia to Gardens by the Bay.
The Highlights
A key part of the campaign was its two volunteering trips (held on 8 and 9 March 2019) aimed at bridging the gap between NTU students and persons with dementia (PWDs). The highlight of this project was the relationships formed with ADA, Lien Foundation, the student volunteers, and most importantly, the seniors.
Despite having a short time with the PWDs, volunteers managed to interact well with their new friends, with both parties expressing that they would like to see and interact with each other again. A volunteer from the team’s Gardens by the Bay trip said, “I cannot speak Hainanese, so I was worried to communicate with [my beneficiary], but I used simple sign language. The more time I spent with her, the better I felt. Actually, I want to see her again.” To date, all 22 student volunteers have indicated their keenness to participate in future events with PWDs, organised by the campaign’s main partner, Alzheimer’s Disease Association (ADA).
On March 9, the team organised the first student-led Memories Cafe event. The objective of this event was to reach more individuals and achieve the campaign’s public visibility. The team invited external performers, a ukulele band, “Happy Ukers”, from Hillview Community Club, to lead a sing-a-long session. The audience couldn’t help but dance to the music as they stood up from their seats in a show of enthusiastic encouragement. Thereafter, caregivers came up to one of our team members, to share that the music brought joy to their parents as well as themselves. The team also saw a member of the public who joined in the fun after seeing how enjoyable it was.
The Memories
Reflection #1 – The Challenges
Over the course of the campaign, the team had to constantly learn more about dementia. Besides the challenge of deciding content for the target audience, the planning and execution of two consecutive volunteering trips also proved to be no small feat. However, the team was able to mitigate sudden changes to venue and transport, etc. with help from their supervisor (from ADA).
The team’s Memories Cafe event proved to be the most stressful, being the first ever student-led Memories Cafe with ADA. On event day, the team was initially daunted by the sudden withdrawal of some service users from the programme and the low energy of the audience at the beginning of the performance. To improve the atmosphere, a team member went up to perform with the band. This then encouraged an audience member to step into the performance space, to sing and lead the next song. Slowly, the cafe transformed into a dance floor as family members and friends sang and danced together. Overall, the process taught the team to respond with patience and clear-mindedness in unexpected situations.
Reflection #2 – The Takeaways
The team’s greatest reward was having the privilege to see students and seniors alike, experienced joy and learn through the interactions they had with each other.
More could be done with other universities or tertiary institutions to encourage more volunteering with persons with dementia, and the team is hopeful that young adults will eventually consider themselves capable of making positive change in the dementia landscape.
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