The World Dementia Council has published the second in a series of papers reflecting on evidence underpinning the impact of dementia friendly initiatives. 

The paper considers how initiatives sought to deliver impact in three broad areas of ambition: raising awareness, enabling participation and providing support. 

Globally, more and more countries have seen the launch of dementia friendly initiatives to raise awareness of dementia and help keep people living with dementia well. At a World Dementia Council summit meeting held in December 2018 in London, one of the priorities identified was a project to look at the evidence of impact of these initiatives. 

After the summit, the Council established a group of global experts to help shape the project. We conducted literature reviews, held workshops around the world and issued a call for evidence. Evidence was submitted from across all six continents by governments, civil society, business, and people living with dementia and their caregivers.

The first paper was published in September. It considers what different countries, organizations and individuals mean by “dementia friendly” and what the projects are trying to achieve. A subsequent, concluding paper will be published in coming months.

The Council welcomes feedback on the papers and will review all comments before producing a final report in 2021.

__________

Image credit: Shetkina Zamyslov / AlzRussia