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LoveFest

Summary

Lovefest Perth brings together people with dementia, their families and service providers to build further interest and support for creating dementia friendly communities and services.

It does this by focusing the importance of love in the lives of people with dementia. Lovefest Perth has been shaped by local stakeholders, and begins with the launch of an exhibition of portraits of local people with dementia kissing someone they love. Then a series of presentations by people with dementia and their families will highlight the importance of human connection, the challenges experienced and the strategies to address these. A resource developed from the event will include presentations, photos and other resources developed at the event.

Website: https://melvilletalks.com.au/accessibility-and-inclusion-topic/lovefest

Key facts

Main target group: Older people in general

Sector(s): Information and communication

Desired outcome for older people:
Contribute

Other issues the Age-friendly practice aims to address:
  • Dementia
  • Inclusion
  • Participation

Contact details

Name: Deena Lazzari

Email address: Naomi.Christensen@melville.wa.gov.au

Age-friendly practice in detail (click to expand):

Engaging the wider community

Project lead: Older People’s Association

Others involved in the project:
  • Local authorities
  • Civil Society Organisation
  • Social or health care provider
  • Volunteers
  • Private sector

Older people’s involvement: Older people were involved in the age-friendly practice at multiple or all stages

Details on older people’s involvement: Older people were involved in the age-friendly practice at multiple stages including in a working party that planned, coordinated and implemented to event. This included older people living with dementia and their carers.

Moving forward

Has the impact of this age-friendly practice been analysed: Yes

Was the impact positive or negative:
Positive

Please share with us what you found in detail:
Survey responses were collected and rated. Overall the responses about the usefulness of the event to participants attracted a rating of 4.8 / 5. Participants were also invited to document the best aspects of LoveFest as well as anything that they thought could be improved. Comments about the best aspects included: • “being able to communicate my story of belonging. (Person living with dementia) • “Hearing stories. Very raw and very emotional. Great to hear the lived experience.” • Meeting everyone – talking – hearing their stories. Replacing fear (of dementia) with love – really seeing/feeling the humanity of both carers and people living with dementia. • The moving stories from people with dementia and their carers, as well as supportive atmosphere. I particularly enjoyed interacting with a woman with advanced dementia who told me she loved me and kissed me on the cheek. If only more of us were less reserved! • You achieved a real sweet spot. It was innovative, in a spirit of collaboration. Lots to follow up – people, art, connecting people to other people and loads more. No bum notes. I was totally energised by the day.

Looking back

Challenges:
The key area noted for improvement was to provide better promotion and awareness to ensure that more people knew about the event – and that people knew about it earlier. People were very interested in attending but could not make the dates. LoveFest Perth touched the lives of the hundreds of people who participated. Many who wanted to attend but were unable to. It is for these people in particular that we have pulled together The LoveFest Perth Collection.