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On 27 February we hosted the Reimagining Dementia Symposium at Te Papa. There were 110 attendees. Our goal was to encourage people to move away from the tragedy narrative of mate wareware and to experience mate wareware in a new, more positive light. We invited the audience to re-imagine mate wareware by using play and improvisation. We were trying to break out of the usual ways of holding a symposium by having more time for people to engage and react to symposium content.
Symposium morning gathering
During the day we used a digital participant interactive program called Slido. We used Slido to facilitate a morning greeting session, Q&As, panel feedback and a Call to Action.
Slido morning greeting
Mary Fridley and Nicola Pauling facilitated the first session of the day “Playing with dementia: why the environments we build matter” which involved a discussion on improv in day to day life, play as therapy, and alternate ways of communication.
Photos below from morning workshop:
Slido feedback from morning workshop
Thank you to the Young Onset panel for sharing your stories, experiences and expressing honesty. We greatly appreciate your contribution to the day.
Afternoon sessions included:
Emma Fromings – Talk on Anosognosia
Marcia Skinnon – Te Ao Māori perspective
Vulori Daunibau and Sera Vatuloka – Values based care a Fijian perspective
Kristen Phillips – Reimagining Dementia in Books
At the end of the Symposium everyone split into groups to discuss our last point: “What actions can I see myself taking to reimagine dementia?”
This was an opportunity for attendees to gather together and share their knowledge.
Dementia Wellington is grateful to the speakers and all attendees for their participation on the day. Building on the momentum from the day we are working on our next event.
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