The Flipping Stigma Action Group and Research Team, UBC, 2023

Our Approach

This Vancouver Island-based action research team centres the perspectives and priorities of people with lived experience as a way of building dementia inclusive communities. Their work, co-led and co-created by advocates living with dementia, bridges social and health care, empowering the community as a whole. Stigma-free spaces where every person feels valued, supported, and encouraged to contribute, are healthier places. Creating these spaces is at the heart of what the Co-Lab does- that’s why “action” is in the title. The focus of the lab is influenced and inspired by the work of the Flipping Stigma Action Group (photo seen above), a group that Co-Lab founder Mariko Sakamoto worked with and learned from during her post-doctoral fellowship. The Co-Lab’s project participants and co-leads span the province of British Columbia and their work connects with people worldwide. Through a variety of projects happening both online and on the ground, they’re focused on dismantling traditional power dynamics, and building culturally safe, equity-oriented environments that reduce the stigma of dementia and empower all people to live well.