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How might teachers help promote dementia awareness among children and communities?
Marcia Cominetti, Ph.D.
University of Sao Carlos
Sao Carlos, Brazil
Background
The World Health Organization has made improving the public health response to dementia a priority. This includes promoting awareness and understanding of brain health, and fostering dementia-friendly attitudes in the community. While there are many relevant stakeholders, educational programs that focus on children may have long-term benefits. Improving children’s understanding of dementia and brain health may promote a lifetime of healthy choices to help prevent age-related diseases. Research has also shown that teaching children about brain health and aging can help reduce stigma associated with individuals living with cognitive disease.
Research Plan
Dr. Marcia Cominetti has designed an educational program to help teachers deliver content to children related to brain health, aging, and dementia. The program is called Awareness Raising Interventions in Schools: Education on ageing and brain health for teachers (ARISE). Over five structured modules, ARISE provides 30 hours of educational content that is delivered to teachers online. It also offers suggestions for classroom activities to incorporate the content into lessons.
Dr. Cominetti plans to test the feasibility of the ARISE program in two cities in Brazil. The team will build a website to host the educational material, which directly aligns with Brazilian educational standards and is designed to integrate into existing curricula. They will invite teachers of different subjects to participate. The researchers will use surveys before and after both the course and each module to determine the effectiveness of ARISE. Dr. Cominetti’s team will also collect survey data after the school year to evaluate if and how ARISE content was used in the classroom, and to get feedback from teachers about ARISE content, structure, and format.
Impact
ARISE has the potential to improve awareness and understanding of brain health, the aging process, and the different types of dementia among children and teachers. The program may also help promote a better understanding of the importance of a healthy lifestyle among children. Together, these effects could help foster healthy communities that are supportive of people living with dementia and their caregivers.
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