EXACTLY what the state's first dementia trail will look like in Ballarat comes into play now.
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Dementia Australia has returned to film an update on progress in Woowookarung Regional Park, one year on, and while work has still largely been behind the scenes, works are about to start to being the trail to life.
Watch the first Dementia Australia film below
There is a firm plan on paper for the one-kilometre trail. Winter will be the busy season in bringing together key features by tapping into community groups to take an active role in ensuring the trail will be flourishing by summer.
Parks Victoria chief ranger Siobhan Rogan said health services like Eyres House (dementia respite and activities hub) and residential aged care Mercy Place had been involved in tweaking designs but now is the time to firm-up involvement from other community groups.
This could include being part of a mass planting of indigenous flowers for colour, which is being guided by Seeding Victoria and Ballarat Botanical Gardens. Or, it could be in creating a gentle swinging seat, designing an app with bird songs or building possum boxes.
Ms Rogan said the trail was emerging from a Dementia Australia grant but ultimately this was about inviting the whole community to take ownership in the project.
Dementia Australia is documenting the trail's impact and importance in the community, including interviews with the region's dementia advocates, people living with dementia and Friends of Canadian Corridor.
Momentum is growing. This Is Dementia young advocates Brittany Rose and Meg Curnow made a class visit to share their families' stories with Mount Clear College's VCAL students on Friday. The students, now official Dementia Australia dementia friends, were now keen to find a way to play their part.
Parks Victoria has been busy with biodiversity and heritage checks, including those with the area's Aboriginal elders, to get started out on the trail. Costings for community products are next.
The dementia trail will be the first official trail in Woowookarung, which became a regional park two years ago. The trail will be part of the Friends of Canadian Corridor's 10,000-step loop, which will reach the look-out.
Ms Rogan said it was important the dementia trail be inclusive and part of the longer trail with specialty loops off to the side to gentle turn around or take time to sit with nature.
The sensory trail will feature wetlands and a board walk allowing people to touch trees and a circular seating area with the opportunity for mini-concerts.
Ms Rogan said these were all seemingly simple features but vital to reducing anxiety.
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