How the University of Queensland is leading the way as a Dementia-Friendly organisation

Earlier in the year, the University of Queensland (UQ) achieved a significant milestone by becoming the first university to be formally recognised by Dementia Australia as a Dementia-Friendly Organisation.

This recognition highlights UQ’s commitment to creating an inclusive and supportive environment for people living with dementia, their families, and carers. 

The initiative is designed to inform research, raise awareness, reduce stigma, and provide a welcoming space for those affected by dementia.

Professor Nancy Pachana, from UQ’s School of Psychology, is the Program Lead for the UQ Age Friendly University & Healthy Ageing Initiatives, while she is also a Co-Director for the UQ Ageing Mind Initiative. 

The University first joined the Age-Friendly University Global Network in 2020 — becoming the first in the Southern Hemisphere to do so — with the move a major step forward in enhancing UQ’s profile in ageing. 

“At the time, a lot of people at UQ were already doing great stuff in the ageing space. We have a great healthcare centre for people 50 and over where our healthcare students can work with older people who want to maintain their physical health and cognitive function. We have an art museum that frequently does outreach with older people. Obviously we do a lot of research and we have the Queensland Brain Institute here ,” Professor Pachana shared.

“Once we were accepted into the network we met as a committee and asked ourselves ‘what would we like to do next?’. I spoke about how there’s a lot of stigma around ageing and ageism so we should focus on that, particularly for people living with dementia. 

“People still think that if you have dementia, you don’t have the capacity to make decisions or you can’t enjoy activities. Even healthcare professionals often refer to people living with dementia in the third person when they’re in the room. This led to us working with Dementia Australia and people with lived experience to create an action plan of how to be more dementia friendly.”

This partnership was the first of its kind for Dementia Australia, which at the time had worked with a range of organisations and community groups but never a university.  

In becoming a Dementia-Friendly Organisation, UQ’s has wide-ranging goals that go beyond just being a welcoming space for people living with dementia who want to visit areas such as its Art Museum. 

For example, it will integrate specific training modules in health and medicine courses as part of a landmark project to help improve outcomes for people living with dementia and their families. Meanwhile, the University is set to audit other classes to see where ageing is being discussed and what enhancements can be made across the curriculum.

This could include expanding opportunities for co-design. Examples already exist within engineering and technology where students have worked with people living with dementia, with Professor Pachana stating, “It shows students that if you talk to the person you’re designing for you will design a better product”.   

It is also using Dementia Australia resources such as the Language Guide to educate staff, students and researchers to influence everyday interactions and ongoing work or research. 

“The benefit of that is that the people living with dementia feel more welcome because they’re spoken to in a positive way. Because when you talk to people living with dementia the thing they often want the most is to just do everyday things in life,” Professor Pachana said.

“They want to go to the grocery store, they want to talk to people, they want to keep engaging in their hobbies. When we had our dementia launch I said that having a place where people feel comfortable allows them to participate in life.

“If there’s too much stigma people feel isolated and unwelcomed.”

UQ will be taking a look at the built environment as well to ensure that clear signage is located in all areas to support navigating and wayfinding. This includes even the smallest initiatives like ensuring that signs are visible from all angles with no obstructions — something that could be overlooked in a major build or refurbishment. 

Then there are the personal elements that Professor Pachana said are often overlooked. 

“If you work at the University then you might have caregivers leave for a sick child, but it also works if your mum has dementia and you need to help her with something. But people mostly think about it in the childcare context so we’re trying to raise awareness that caregiving is a whole of life requirement,” she added.

“Approximately 433,000 Australians are living with dementia so we’re all really one or two degrees away from someone living with dementia.”

Moving forward, Professor Pachana said there will be plenty of opportunities for growth and development in this space. She also hopes that by becoming a Dementia-Friendly Organisation with Dementia Australia, other universities and schools will be inspired to do the same. 

“Our Vice-Chancellor Professor Deborah Terry said that the basic mission of a university is for the public good. I believe that it’s through our research and training that everyone will go out into the world and understand how to improve experiences for the wider community,” she added. 

“You never say that you’re totally across dementia; you say you’re working towards it. We’re learning more and more about the different kinds of dementia, and the saying is if you’ve met one person living with dementia, you’ve met one person living with dementia. Their experiences are different. So we will keep working and refining what we’re doing.”