Department of Biomedical Science, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya

A ‘Youth Engagement Programme’ was organised together with the Department of Biomedical Science, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya and the Alzheimer’s Disease Foundation Malaysia (ADFM). With 50 million people currently living with AD/dementia, and 130 million people estimated by 2050, we sought to help those affected now and to lower the numbers in the future, so we engaged with the youth to make them more aware about dementia and encourage them to lead a healthy lifestyle to lower their chances of developing AD/dementia. Held at the ADFM-Atria community centre within a shopping mall, Biomedical Science undergraduates spent 4 sessions over 2 weeks, engaging with dementia patients and their caregivers. We organised four two-hour sessions of afternoon activities. Activities included artwork, bingo, beading, chequers, Chinese chess, mini golf putting, coloured rice artwork and word games such as ‘I spy with my little eye’. The students enjoyed it very much, we learnt a lot from just spending some time with the caregivers and their loved ones affected with dementia. The activities weren’t sophisticated but they were designed to get people talking and interacting with each other. We wanted the youth to know how to interact with dementia patients, and to recognise symptoms. We had a range of patients are different stages come in. We also wanted to get the youth to think about how to better support these individuals. The couples who came gave positive comments about the activities and one couple even kindly brought their old wedding photos to talk about how they met and life in their younger days. It was a wonderful event, and very impactful. We are planning many more sessions in the future beyond Brain Awareness

It made it more official. There have been positive outcomes from the activities, with longer term projects planned, and friendships made.

yes