The first session of the OCN Alloa pilot group, to test and develop collaboratively the tools designed as part of the Our Connected Neighbourhoods (OCN) project, will be held on Zoom on Wednesday 12th May from 10am to 11.30am.
In this session, led by OCN staff, we will work through the first stage of the tools, in a ‘SNAP’ workshop dedicated to taking the first steps towards a more dementia-inclusive neighbourhood.
The workshop will be held on Zoom, with the intention to undertake our first in person outdoor audit walk in Alloa the following week (date TBC).
If you live in the Alloa area and are interested in joining this pilot group to make your neighbourhood more dementia-inclusive, book your free ticket for the session here.
ABOUT THE OCN TOOLS
We have developed a set of tools and resources to help neighbourhoods in their journey to become dementia-inclusive. These include tools developed by OCN, as well as external resources that might be useful at various stages. This is a set of imaginative and creative tools, which encourage activities that are hopefully both fun and meaningful for people living with dementia and their carers. The aim is to promote social interaction, neighbourhood action, and to make people living with dementia feel that they are at the heart of their community.
Each neighbourhood group will have a different experience and background, which is why this toolkit is designed to be non-prescriptive and flexible. Not all of the tools and resources available might be needed to all groups, so you are encouraged to select and use the ones that are relevant to you.
To help groups navigate the toolkit, we have created a Neighbourhood Compass, which provides initial guidance on the four stages of the journey that we have envisioned.
- The SNAP stage is about taking a first look at your neighbourhood and what it is missing to be truly dementia-enabling. You should leave the initial OCN workshop with a clearer idea of how to work with your neighbourhood group.
- The MAP stage focuses on looking at what’s in your neighbourhood and reflecting on your personal experience and that of your community. This will allow you to define clear priorities and get to the next stage ready to make your plan of action.
- After defining and mapping your neighbourhood, and identifying your priorities for action, the NAP stage is about making your plan of action and running your activities.
- We designed this journey as a circle rather than a straight timeline. The reason for this is that at the end of a process there should always be a time for reflection and evaluation, which might lead to starting parts of the project again – although with a different focus and increased experience (ADAPT stage).
The pilot groups will run until September 2021, with the intent to test and refine the initial version of the tools developed by the OCN. Involved groups receive support from academic and project staff, with experienced volunteer assistance and evaluation included. If you don’t live in the Alloa area but would be interested in joining or setting up a pilot group in your neighbourhood, get in touch with us at info@ourconnectedneighbourhoods.org