To Alison Dermer, volunteering is second nature. A way to connect to people. To see the world beyond herself.
Over the years, she hosted children from Ireland, assisted at a hospice program and, for the past 14 years, volunteered at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
It made sense, then, when the airport started a Dementia-Friendly Airport Working Group a few years ago that Dermer would sign up for the training. Especially now that her mom is dealing with the challenges of mid-stage dementia — memory loss, forgetting to eat, feeling listless sometimes.
“I can see my mom struggling with a lack of purpose. Her driver’s license was revoked a couple of years ago,” Dermer said. “Her dealing with it got me even more invested.”
A growing roster of airports around the world are implementing new policies and procedures to ease travel for people living with dementia and their caregivers, said Sara Barsel, who founded the Dementia-Friendly Airports Working Group.
While there’s no agreed-upon definition of a “dementia-friendly” airport, at MSP it’s meant improving signage, installing adult changing rooms and adopting use of the sunflower lanyard, which identifies the wearer as someone with a hidden disability who needs extra time and patience from workers and volunteers. It’s part of a growing number of efforts by MSP to better accommodate people with special needs or challenges.
Besides training for staff, the airport works with the dementia group to hold workshops for people planning to fly so they can learn about the airport’s services and layout.
“They’re really doing pretty well,” Barsel said of the airport’s efforts.