The Memory-Friendly Neighbourhoods (MFN) programme ran in two phases between 2014 and 2017.
Funded by the Scottish Universities Insight Institute (SUII), MFN was a collaboration between research centres at the Universities of Stirling and Edinburgh – led by Dr Richard Ward (Stirling) and Máire Cox (Edinburgh). The Memory-Friendly online platform is a product of the original project and takes forward its core aim of helping to make the Scottish National Dementia Strategy a liveable reality.
Phase One (2014)
The first phase of Memory-Friendly Neighbourhoods took place in 2014. We held two events to bring together people interested in what makes a good, lifelong, inclusive neighbourhood for a person whose life is affected by dementia. We exchanged ideas with experts from around the world, shared good practice from Scotland, heard from people living with dementia, and explored the challenges people face getting out and about in their local neighbourhood by walking with them.
Phase Two (2016)
The second phase of Memory-Friendly Neighbourhoods was announced in February 2016. This time around, we are focusing specifically on the ‘virtual neighbourhood’, looking at how people living with dementia use and navigate online environments. To date, we have met with website owners to find out what challenges they face in making their sites dementia-friendly. Over the course of the year, we will be using surveys and a ‘town hall meeting’ approach to engage with internet users whose lives are affected by dementia.
Full details of each phase can be found at the links below.