CSD students become certified Dementia Friends Champions

Currently, there are 50 million people in the world living with dementia. Dementia Friends USA is part of a global movement that is changing the way people think, act, and talk about dementia. Developed by the Alzheimer’s Society in the United Kingdom, the Dementia Friends USA initiative is administered by Dementia Friendly America. Dementia Friends Champions are volunteers who have been trained to offer in-person Dementia Friends sessions. In-person sessions can be found in states that have an organization that has acquired licensure through Dementia Friendly America to run a statewide Dementia Friends program.

Hearing, Speech, and Language Sciences students taking CSD 3000, “Aging and Disorders of Communication”, met with Dr. Bonnie Burman for an intensive training session. Dr. Burman is the President of The Ohio Council for Cognitive Health, which runs Dementia Friends Ohio. Once the training was completed, our students became certified Dementia Friends Champions. This means they can now train other people willing to become Dementia Friends.

According to Dr. Burman, “These students are the first university student group that has been trained to be Dementia Friends Champions in the state of Ohio”.

If you would like to be trained to become a Dementia Friend, you can check out the Dementia Friends Ohio website (http://ocfch.org/df/dementia-friends) or contact Ohio Council for Cognitive Health at Ohio Council for Cognitive Health at 7795 Straits Lane, New Albany, OH 43054.