FLIPPING STIGMA ON ITS EAR:
Taking Action Against Stigma and Discrimination
Associated with Dementia
What Happened this month?
Over the past few months, Action Group members have been working together with filmmaker Samantha Pineda to showcase how the toolkit has impacted them personally and what it has meant to them to be a part of the Flipping Stigma project.
Four videos have now been created. Two are up on the Flipping Stigma toolkit website, and two are in post-production. So far, Action Group members Lester, Myrna, Lynn and Donna have participated in filming a video. For each video, Sam and her partner Davy arrange a time to visit Action Group members’ homes. Attention is paid to making the Action Group member comfortable in his or her own home environment. Then members are filmed while they talk about the toolkit, the Flipping Stigma project, and their experiences living with dementia.
Creating these videos has been a special way for members to reflect on their journey with the Action Group, how they view their own role within the project, and what work may come next. At a recent Action Group meeting, a few members shared some words on what the process of creating and sharing these videos has been like.
As Action Group member Donna says, “...I do it because I...think it's the only way people are gonna pay attention is if they get a visual...So you know, visually it's good, I think, to have someone live, you know, presenting some things...".
Lester shared that he enjoyed it because it was the sort of thing he hadn’t done before and “it was an educational experience...”.
Donna shared that the experience of making the videos was “fun, in a sense that I'm doing something that...is assisting in...more people learning about Alzheimer’s. That's really important to me.”
About filmmakers Sam and Davy, Myrna shared that “they were so personable, you just felt comfortable…they are just amazing people”. It has been wonderful to have professional filmmakers working alongside the Action Group to further share the work that is being done in this project.
You can view the completed videos here:
Stay tuned for more videos coming soon!
News and Events
A few weeks ago, some members of the research team attended the Canadian Association on Gerontology Conference in Regina.
This was the first time that many of us had seen each other in person in a long time—as you can see by how happy Mariko and Jim were to see each other!
Mariko shared a presentation about Action Group members’ roles within the project—facilitating community conversations about stigma and discrimination and promoting opportunities for meaningful community engagement. The presentation room was packed so full that some people had to stand at the back! We distributed post cards and business cards with information about the toolkit for people to take back to their respective teams from different provinces across Canada (and a few from other countries!).
Alison presented about the process of the project itself—how the group works together as a team, the transition from in-person to online meetings, and the tangible outcomes of the many meetings of the Action Group. She let everyone know that we had recently passed the 60 Action Group meetings mark to which a crowd gave a round of applause and some cheers.
Paulina displayed a poster that focused on what we have collectively learned about connecting virtually with people living with dementia over the course of the past 2.5 years and what has allowed for ongoing participation by many Action Group members in an online space.
If you are interested in learning more about these presentations you can email flipping.stigma@ubc.ca and we would be happy to share more information!
Learn more about the toolkit
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