Dementia Friendly movements have launched in towns and counties across the United States during the past decade, paralleling efforts to spur the growth of age-friendly initiatives.
The two movements operate independently of one another, but many advocates call for more intersectionality. In keeping with that, the upcoming annual conference of New Jersey Advocates for Aging Well (NJAAW) will feature a presentation about both expanding initiatives.
The May 8 conference in Princeton, titled “Aging in Every Sector,” will cover a broad swath of topics and explore why New Jersey needs to take a more unified approach in planning for population aging.
“Our goal is for the conference to educate our state and community leaders about the many disparate yet similar efforts happening across the state to make our communities and institutions more inclusive and more supportive of the needs of all New Jerseyans,” said Dr. Cathy Rowe, executive director of NJAAW. “One area we really felt needed more exploration is the tremendous work going on to enhance our understanding of dementia and the needs of people impacted by it.”
A morning session at the conference, titled “Dementia in New Jersey: Research and Resources,” will feature three speakers addressing three different areas of work on dementia happening in New Jersey.
Nancy D. Chiaravalloti, Director of Neuropsychology, Neuroscience and Traumatic Brain Injury Research Center at the Kessler Foundation, will share details of the center’s clinical trials. Three of those trials are evaluating strategies to improve memory and learning in people in the early stage of dementia, in individuals who have a history of stroke and in healthy older adults.
Jenna Noecker, Programs and Services Coordinator of Alzheimer’s New Jersey, will discuss her organization’s role in increasing awareness about dementia and about the programs and resources they offer to people living with dementia and their caregivers
Kerri Sherer, Deputy Director of the Bergen County Division of Senior Services, will speak about the dementia friendly initiative that her department launched in 2021.
Bergen is one of three New Jersey counties participating in the Dementia Friendly Americanetwork administered by USAging, the national association representing Area Agencies on Aging. First launched in 2015, Dementia Friendly America now has a presence in 43 states.
There are distinct differences between age-friendly and dementia-friendly movements, but AARP and other advocates urge local officials to focus on how the two separate campaigns can complement rather than compete with one another.
A 2016 report by AARP International entitled “Better Together” lays out recommendations for integrating the missions and goals of each.
That report points to the similar objectives of each movement – both aim to help older adults remain independent and living in community settings as long as possible and both engage with broad coalitions of stakeholders.
To quote that report: “It is often said that ‘a dementia friendly community is age-friendly, but an age-friendly community is not necessarily dementia friendly.’ In fact, neither one wholly encompasses the other. Age-friendly alone may overlook some of the specific needs of people living with dementia, while dementia friendly communities don’t consider the broader spectrum of needs among older adults as a whole.”
The report recommends aligning existing age-friendly initiatives and dementia-friendly initiatives with one another.
The Bergen County Dementia-Friendly initiative illustrates how such an alignment can speed progress on both movements.
The county’s Dementia Friendly action team counts among its members several key players from Bergen’s age-friendly movement: Julia Stoumbos of The Henry Marilyn Taub Foundation, which helps fund and lead the AFNJ alliance; Janet Sharma of Age-Friendly Englewood, who also helps lead the Age-Friendly Bergen Roundtable bimonthly gatherings; and EJ Vizzi, who leads the Age-Friendly Teaneck initiative.
In the past two years, Bergen’s Dementia Friendly initiative has held 7 memory cafes attended by nearly 250 people, created a resource guide, started a quarterly newsletter, initiated a new support group and conducted education and training sessions with a variety of audiences, including junior high and high school students, medical professions, librarians, senior center staff, faith leaders, service providers and business leaders.
During the same time, the county has been ramping up its age-friendly initiative, engaging many of the same stakeholder organizations, including family caregivers. In 2025, Bergen County was selected as a recipient of the New Jersey Department of Human Services Age-Friendly grant program.
That state grant program will be one of the topics of an afternoon session at the May 8 conference, titled “New Jersey’s Age-Friendly Movement- Past, Present and Future.”
“I believe both of these sessions will offer attendees a new perspective on how to launch and sustain Dementia Friendly and Age-Friendly campaigns in their communities, and more importantly how each initiative can amplify the work of the other,” Rowe said.
“We hope one of the chief takeaways from this conference will be the importance and advantages of aligning our many different but overlapping campaigns for change,” Rowe added. “To truly change the lens on aging, we have to work across all sectors and unite in our common goals.”
To register to attend the May 8 conference, click here
For more details on the full list of presenters, click here