Prime Minister’s Challenge on Dementia Intergenerational Schools Project - It's Not All Knitting and Bingo...

Championed by Angela Rippon as part of the Prime Minister’s Challenge on dementia 22 Pioneer Schools have participated in an intergenerational awareness raising project. Teachers have embraced this challenge as part of their curriculum, devising ways to help pupils from both primary and secondary schools understand dementia. Schools have partnered with community organisations, Alzheimer’s Society and local care homes to enable pupils to meet people living with dementia and to spend time with them and their carers. A range of innovative curriculum activities have been devised which are brought to life in this presentation where footage of pupils will be shared with the audience. The Association for Dementia Studies, working with the Department of Health, evaluated the Intergenerational Schools Project, conducting both pre and post intervention questionnaires for pupils and undertaking interviews with teachers to find out the most effective approaches to introducing this subject into the curriculum. If we aspire to create dementia friendly communities we must ensure future generations are prepared with the knowledge, understanding and experience of those living with dementia.
The evaluation brings together the challenges of introducing this material to the curriculum, the changes evidenced in pupil knowledge and understanding and a wealth of resources for teachers. It also acts as springboard to consider how such sensitive topics can be introduced to the PHSE curriculum.