Ballyroan: A Dementia-Inclusive, Age Friendly Community

Description

Ballyroan is home to South Dublin County Council’s flagship Age Friendly initiative, where community care, creative expression, and dementia inclusion come together. This initiative is innovative in its multi-strand, community-led design, blending creative engagement, health awareness, and inter-agency cooperation in a single locality.

Through partnership with the local library and community centre, the initiative offers a Dementia Awareness programme, a monthly Dementia Café, and the Pendulum Project – a series of workshops that explore memory through various art forms. A recent partnership with the Local Enterprise Office also supported older adults exploring small business development.

In 2023, Ballyroan was selected as the pilot site for SDCC’s dementia-inclusive efforts. The Dementia Inclusive Community pilot embedded training across sectors—retail, healthcare, and council staff—supported by “Understand Together” stickers for visibility. An online training option broadened participation for businesses unable to attend in person.

The Dementia Café was not only a social event but a structured, volunteer-supported space featuring activities, guest speakers, and partner organisations including Cheeverstown and Engaging Dementia.

Meanwhile, the Pendulum Project and LEO clinic engaged older adults in creative and entrepreneurial learning.

The Pendulum Project offered four different art forms tied to personal memory—drawing, painting, textiles, and creative writing—making it accessible to diverse participants. The public exhibition celebrated older creatives and was attended by the Mayor.

The Age-Friendly Mentor Clinic, hosted with the Local Enterprise Office, brought an enterprise dimension into age-friendly work, helping older hobbyists consider microbusiness options. This economic engagement aspect is rare in such initiatives and particularly forward-thinking

This integrated approach offers a meaningful, local model for ageing with dignity and connection.

Together, these learning pathways helped reframe older people not as passive recipients of care, but as learners, entrepreneurs, and creative citizens with the right to lead fulfilling, expressive lives in their community.

Aim of Initiative

The Ballyroan initiative aimed to create an age-friendly, dementia-inclusive model rooted in creative engagement, community connection, and accessible local services.

The primary objectives were:
• To raise awareness and reduce stigma around dementia.
• To support people with dementia and their carers through regular, inclusive community gatherings.
• To offer meaningful opportunities for older people to engage in learning, creativity, and self-expression.
• To strengthen inter-agency collaboration across local government, community services, and national organisations.
These aims were achieved through four interlinked strands:
• Dementia Inclusive Community Pilot, which trained over 35 people across library, council, and business staff.
• The monthly Dementia Café, hosted in Ballyroan Community and Youth Centre.
• The Pendulum Project, a four-course creative programme culminating in a public exhibition and published booklet.
• The Age-Friendly Mentor Clinic, hosted by the library and delivered in partnership with the Local Enterprise Office, which supported older adults exploring small-scale business or craft enterprise.

Who is it aimed at

This initiative was designed to respect the diverse needs, abilities, and life experiences of older people in Ballyroan.

The Pendulum Project offered four distinct creative disciplines—painting, drawing, textiles, and writing—allowing participants to choose a medium that suited their interests, learning style, or physical comfort. This flexibility supported different cognitive and motor capacities and encouraged participation from both confident and first-time learners.

The Dementia Café welcomed all, without requiring a formal dementia diagnosis. This encouraged earlier engagement and fostered a stigma-free environment where people with memory loss, carers, family members, and volunteers could connect informally. Its relaxed atmosphere allowed people to participate at their own pace, with support as needed.

The LEO Mentor Clinic offered a rare and valuable space for older adults—especially women, carers, and crafters—to explore late-life entrepreneurship.

The Dementia Inclusive Community pilot embedded training across sectors— Local retail, healthcare, and council staff

3 Steps critical to success

1. In Sept 23 a motion was submitted to the Area Commitee Meeting asking that the Council pilot the use of the dementia inclusive community sticker in council run buildings in Rathfarnham, Templeogue, Firhouse and Bohernabreena areas.

   Senior Management were very supportive of the idea and after research recognised a whole community-based approach was required, involving local businesses, community groups and residents in conjunction with the local authority. This linked into the Age Friendly County Strategy.

2. Selection of Suitable Area:

   Ballyroan was selected for the first Age Friendly dementia inclusive pilot.

   It has a well-established community centre and library, church and pastoral centre and a good mix of local retailers, businesses and GP/pharmacy services.

   Large cohort of older people living in the area. Dementia more prevalent among that demographic.

3. Programme Development

   Local businesses, residents, carers, and volunteers were deeply involved

   To develop the programme, we liaised with the HSE for guidance on best practice with launching a dementia inclusive initiative. They assisted with the roll out of Understand Together which is a public support, awareness and information campaign.

   Businesses helped shape the dementia training rollout.

   Community volunteers played a key role in Café logistics.

   Libraries developed specific programmes for this cohort of the community – the Pendulum Project.

   The Age-Friendly Mentor Clinic was based on interest expressed by local crafters, and many attendees brought peers. Participants felt empowered to co-design elements of the programme, building ownership and sustainability.

3 Challenges in Planning / Delivery

1. Initial resistance from local businesses to engage in the programme and dedicate time to staff training. Having the training available online helped with this.
2. Many older adults initially lacked confidence or were anxious about joining the programmes. Addressing this psychological barrier and creating a supportive environment for learning required extra time, patience, and reassurance from course facilitators.
3. Reaching this cohort of the community – clear, accessible language and word-of-mouth played key roles

3 Outcomes / Benefits

1. This initiative created multiple entry points for older people to learn, grow, and contribute actively within their local community.

   • 35 participants completed Dementia Awareness Training
   • 20+ businesses involved, with stickers displayed for public visibility
   • 18–24 attendees at monthly Dementia Café sessions
   • 32 older adults completed Pendulum workshops
   • Public exhibition at Ballyroan Library in January 2024
   • Booklet of writing and poetry published
   • Strong turnout for launch events, including local councillors and the Mayor
   • Waiting lists for several workshops
   • 15 older adults attended the Age-Friendly Mentor Clinic, hosted by Ballyroan Library and the LEO, with many signing up for individual follow-up mentoring

   These results show strong demand, cross-sector collaboration, and sustained community impact.

2. The Dementia Café has been established as a regular monthly feature in Ballyroan Community and Youth Centre. It is low-cost, volunteer-supported, and run in collaboration with community partners such as Cheeverstown and Trustus. The rotating speakers and activities ensure ongoing relevance and engagement.

   Due to the success of this pilot similar Cafes are now planned for the Tallaght and Clomdlkai areas.

3. The Pendulum Project is now a branded and repeatable library programme, with a tested structure, trained facilitators, and strong public interest. It has already been successfully replicated in Tallaght Library, demonstrating its scalability across the South Dublin Library network. Its modular format allows it to be tailored to local capacity while maintaining creative quality and participant impact.