As we reflect on year 2018, we are grateful for the support and collaboration from our community, and we remain dedicated to building inclusive, supportive environments for dementia caregivers.
Our Year in 2018
Throughout 2018, Project We Forgot has made significant strides in raising awareness and providing support for dementia caregivers through a variety of impactful initiatives. From our Step Up, Speak Out! forums, which brought together caregivers and experts to address the unique challenges faced by working caregivers and women, to our diverse outreach engagements, including sessions with students at SIM, the Purposeful Aging symposium at Yale-NUS, and collaborations with organisations like Booking.com and Pangdemonium, we have fostered a deeper understanding of dementia care.
Our innovative events, such as our series of ‘Designathon’ events, empowered communities to create solutions for dementia care, underscoring our commitment to social innovation and accessible healthcare. Additionally, our 4-Week Caregiver MBSR Programme by MindFi and dementia simulation events have further enhanced caregiver support and awareness.
Step Up, Speak Out! Forums
Step Up, Speak Out! is a forum dedicated to bringing together caregivers and experts to share their journeys and insights on caring for individuals with dementia. The goal of the forum is to build knowledge, understanding, and support, empowering caregivers to seek help and provide better care for themselves and their loved ones.
This year, our focus was on the unique challenges faced by working caregivers and the specific impacts of dementia on women. We extend our heartfelt thanks to our collaborators and speakers for their invaluable contributions to the 2018 forums.
Speakers and Collaborators:
- Ho Ying Ying – Caregiver to her mother with dementia
- MuYao Lim – Former caregiver to her grandmother with dementia
- Daniel Lim – Caregiver to his father with dementia
- Swee Larn – Former caregiver to her mother with dementia
- Gabrielle Lee – Pace OD Consulting
- Stephen Chan – Alzheimer’s Disease Association (ADA)
- Simon-Peter Lum – AMKFSC
- Zabeen Khan – Agency for Integrated Care
- Manmohan Singh – Formerly from AWWA
- Shailey Hingorani – Head of Advocacy, Research, and Communications at AWARE
- Dr. Mok Wan Ling Vanessa – Consultant Psychiatrist, Department of Psychological Medicine at Changi General Hospital
- Jeremy Khoo – Head of Communications, Alzheimer’s Disease Association (ADA) Singapore
Outreach Engagements
Reaching out to the Young – AMKFSC x SIM
We had a wonderful session reaching out to students at the Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) in collaboration with AMKFSC. The discussion covered the journey of a person with dementia, the dynamic nature of caregiving, the experiences of younger caregivers, the evolving needs of family caregivers, and the increasing complexity and scope of caregiver responsibilities.
Purposeful Ageing, Meaningful Endings Symposium
The seminar, titled “Business and Innovation for the End of Life,” was part of the “Purposeful Aging // Meaningful Endings: Art, Science, and Innovation” symposium at Yale-NUS College. Organised by Yale-NUS in collaboration with Modern Aging Singapore and the Singapore Hospice Council, the event explored innovative approaches to end-of-life care. More about the event here (pg 10).
Our Better World x Booking.com Outreach
We extend our gratitude to Our Better World for the opportunity to share our work with employees at Booking.com Singapore. The session focused on ways to support caregivers of loved ones with dementia better. We were pleased to collaborate with Runninghour and Cycling Without Age Singapore for this outreach.
“The Father” Post-Show Dialogues – Pangdemonium
Pangdemonium’s staging of “The Father” highlighted the journey a family undergoes when caring for a loved one with dementia. The play was followed by post-show dialogues featuring the cast, experts, and caregivers who shared their experiences and discussed the play’s themes. Click here to hear what caregivers thought of the play.
Dementia Simulation Event @ Ng Teng Fong Hospital
In collaboration with Camp Hiro, a social enterprise empowering youths to address real community needs, we led a dementia simulation event at Ng Teng Fong Hospital on World Alzheimer’s Day. This event was open to all hospital staff and volunteers, providing a valuable learning experience.
World Alzheimer’s Month 2018 Conference
“Every 3 seconds, someone is diagnosed with dementia globally.” With this sobering statistic in mind, the Alzheimer’s Disease Association organised a conference on September 21-22, 2018. The conference aimed to Educate, Enable, and Empower participants, emphasising the urgency of building Inclusive and Accessible Communities. We were glad to contribute to the discussions on “Building Accessible and Inclusive Communities.”
4-Week Caregiver MBSR Programme – MindFi
The 4-Week Caregiver Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Programme, led by MindFi, was offered to all Project We Forgot community members. Caring for a loved one with dementia can be very rewarding but often involves many stressors. This programme aimed to improve mental well-being in work, care, and life by providing stress relief therapy administered by psychologists. MBSR has also been recently implemented in corporate training programmes for mental wellness.
Designathon We Remember! 2018
Designathon We Remember! 2018 was an event focused on empowering the community to design solutions for dementia. It brought together designers, developers, entrepreneurs, students, caregivers, healthcare workers, and social service providers to collaborate and create innovative design solutions for persons with dementia and their caregivers in Singapore.
Special thanks to our partner OneMaker Group, speakers, mentors, judges, partners, and supporters:
SPEAKERS:
- Lee Lee Sian, Institute of Mental Health (IMH)
- Julian Koo, Jaga-Me
- Christel Goh, Hua Hee
- Yahssir M, Founder, Millenia Motion Pictures
- Kokila, veteran actress who played Parvathy in Ninaivirukkum Varai
- Sock Hoon, Caregiver
- Stephanie Tay, National Council of Social Service (NCSS)
- Gideon Simons, Firemark Labs
- Sharifah N., Firemark Labs
As we look ahead in the coming year, we are excited to continue our mission of empowering and supporting dementia caregivers. Thank you to everyone who has been part of our journey.
