Bishan builds the first dementia-friendly coffee shop

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The Lian Foundation and the Bishan-Tangshen District Citizen Advisory Committee will work together to build the Bishan Jinshanling Food Center into the first dementia-friendly coffee shop in Hong Kong to enhance vendors' and diners' understanding of dementia through stickers on the table and training activities.

From time to time, there are some elderly customers with abnormal behavior in the neighborhood coffee shop. sometimes they will constantly order the same food from the stall, and sometimes they will make unreasonable requests. This is not because they intend to make things difficult for vendors, but because they suffer from dementia.

In order to raise vendors' awareness of dementia, the Lian Foundation and the Citizen Advisory Committee of Bishan-Tangshen District will join hands to build the Bishan Jinshanling Food Center into the first dementia-friendly coffee shop in Hong Kong. All coffee shop vendors will receive training to learn how to identify customers with dementia and lend them a helping hand at the right time.

Promotional stickers are also posted on the tables of coffee shops to raise diners' awareness of dementia and encourage them to lend a helping hand to people with dementia in need.

This is one of the projects under the forget-me-not project of the Lian Foundation. Bishan-Tangshen District is also the second community to join the forget-me-not project after Yishun.

Zhong Qixiong, consultant of grass-roots organizations in the Bishan-Dabayaji constituency, pointed out at the promotion meeting of dementia friendly coffee shops today that although dementia is increasingly common in Hong Kong, there is still a lack of awareness of dementia among many people. This may cause people with dementia and their caregivers to suffer from strange eyes when they go out, exacerbating the mental stress they face.

"the Bishan-Dabayao constituency hopes to deepen public awareness of dementia and create a more inclusive community. The Bishan Jinshanling Food Center is located in the center of Bishan and is a familiar contact station for residents, so it is the best starting point for building a dementia-friendly community. "