A specialist dementia researcher from the ARC NWC / University of Liverpool has worked with local school children to develop a new board game, helping younger generations learn about dementia and challenge stigma from an early age.
The Dementia Explorer Game has been created by Dr Clarissa Giebel, in the University’s Institute of Population Health, and her team, in collaboration with The Lewy Body Society.
Now the game has been featured on BBC’s The One Show, giving it national exposure in how it is helping families and children to understand dementia in an interactive way and learn more about dementia and how they can support loved ones living with the condition.
Dr Clarissa Giebel (pictured, below), is Senior Research Fellow in the Institute of Population Health at the University of Liverpool and at the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration North West Coast. She said: “Dementia affects nearly every family in some way, yet stigma and misunderstanding still surround the condition. By engaging children at an early age, we can create opportunities to talk openly, ask questions, and start breaking down those barriers.”
The game itself is designed in the shape of a brain and is divided into four themes: learning about dementia, understanding risk factors, how children can help, and how to live well with dementia. Players move around the board collecting tokens as they answer questions and complete challenges, with the first player to collect 10 tokens crowned the winner.
The game has been designed to respond to the stigma that continues to exist around dementia and aims to build awareness and compassion from childhood onwards. The Dementia Explorer Game follows the success of The Dementia Inequalities Game, developed with people with dementia and carers, to shine a light on the inequalities and challenges people face. Read more about the Dementia Inequalities Game here.
Dr Giebel added: “We often focus on adults when we talk about dementia education, but children are the next generation of carers, healthcare professionals, and supportive neighbours and friends. Helping them to understand dementia early on is key to changing perceptions in the long term.”
The game is available to buy from The Lewy Body Society website. You can hear Dr Clarissa Giebel talking about the board game in more detail in the Original Ideas podcast.