I was asked to write a piece for the Journal of Dementia Care (March 2013 edition, out now ) about Dementia friendly communities, ONE YEAR ON, here it is, I hope you like it
Since being diagnosed
myself five years ago and
realising there wasn’t that
much out there for younger
people with dementia, our
campaign began to try and
improve things. The Prime
Minister’s dementia challenge
last year was a great boost as it
catapulted the illness of
dementia into the eyes of the
world. If you strip away the
politics and get on with the job
in hand, which is improving
the quality of life not only for
people with dementia but also
their carers and loved ones,
then the dementia challenge is
just that, a challenge, but not
something that is
insurmountable.
It has to be community led
and community driven. One of
the most important things to
remember is the two words we
live by which are inclusion and
engagement. To achieve this you
must include people with
dementia at every step, in
every decision and every
campaign. And I don’t mean
by asking them to fill a
questionnaire in (usually done
by carers anyway) but to ask
them on to your boards and
steering groups. We have a
voice my friends, I have a
voice, I have an opinion and
more importantly I have a
future, despite having
dementia!
FOOTNOTE
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