MCOA is the state lead for the Dementia Friendly Massachusetts (DFM) initiative, a community-based, grassroots movement to grow awareness, services, and infrastructure to support the lives of people living with dementia and their caregivers. Communities often choose to merge DFM goals with corresponding and overlapping goals for network membership in the Age-Friendly Massachusetts movement, which is steered by AARP-MA. MCOA offers ongoing support in these meaningful endeavors:

• One-on-one counseling with COA staff members starting and continuing AF/DF work
• Useful step-by-step documents to guide your process
• Quarterly DFM meetings with a broad array of colleagues in the field, featuring presentations from experts and highlighted COA leaders who share best practices
• Dementia Friendly Massachusetts designation certificates, distributed to MA communities who have signed the DFM Pledge
• Continually updated training opportunities, resources, and publications
• A current events calendar of relevant, AF/DF virtual and in-person programming in the state
• MCOA representation at your DFM Kick-Off Event
• Grants for Memory Cafes, AF/DF Programs, Supportive Day Programs, and other COA initiatives that increase quality of life for older adults in Massachusetts
• Annual Spring Symposium and Fall Conference sessions featuring presenters who are actively promoting AFDF projects in their communities
• A MyMCOA InfoHub Forum for COA staff members involved in AF/DF (or just DFM?) efforts
• A new DFM blog