National leaders in dementia research and care including Alistair Burns, NHS England’s National Clinical Director for Dementia, are among the scheduled keynote speakers at a major conference in Â鶹´«Ã½.
Renowned dementia campaigners Angela Rippon and Dr Trevor Jarvis, and the Director of Alzheimer’s Society Wales Sue Phelps, will also be addressing the Fourth Â鶹´«Ã½ Dementia Conference in February.
Organised by Â鶹´«Ã½ University in partnership with Â鶹´«Ã½ City Council, the theme of the 2015 event is Dementia, the Challenges and Inspirational Solutions.
It will bring together health and social care professionals, people with dementia and their carers, politicians, and international and national speakers to speak about their life and work.
It will also showcase the cutting edge dementia research taking place at Â鶹´«Ã½ University, which has recently been awarded more than £1million to fund dementia research from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Prime Minister’s Defeat Dementia campaign.
Ian Sherriff, Academic Partnership Lead for Dementia at Â鶹´«Ã½ University and Chair of the Prime Minister’s Rural Dementia Task Force, said:
“The Fourth Â鶹´«Ã½ Dementia Conference is the perfect opportunity for people to see why our city is at the forefront of dementia research and care. In taking a local, regional and national perspective as well as focusing upon urban and rural dimensions of dementia, the conference will seek to engage with the audience and deliver a programme that shares innovative and inspirational solutions and highlight best practice.â€
As well as sharing current best practice, the conference will aim to pose questions for the future of dementia care and suggest that working together in partnership is the only way to bring about positive change and have a lasting impact on policy and practice.
There will be speeches and interviews, and a series of workshops showcasing the dementia related research taking place within Â鶹´«Ã½ University’s Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry, the Faculty of Health and Human Sciences and the Faculty of Arts and Humanities.
Updates on national dementia research will be provided by Colin Capper, Head of Research Development and Evaluation at the Alzheimer’s Society, with further demonstrations of new and innovative care programmes being pioneered in Â鶹´«Ã½ and the surrounding areas.
Councillor Ian Tuffin, Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care for Â鶹´«Ã½ City Council, said:
“We are delighted to be able to host the fourth annual Dementia Conference in Â鶹´«Ã½. As an administration, we are committed to working towards making Â鶹´«Ã½ a Dementia Friendly city. We are immensely proud of the work the council and other partners are doing, working with the Â鶹´«Ã½ Dementia Action Alliance to make Â鶹´«Ã½ more supportive and dementia friendly place to live for people with dementia, their families and carers. In Â鶹´«Ã½ we have 60 organisations who have signed up to be Dementia Friendly, 37 care homes now carry the Dementia Quality Mark, and becoming Dementia Friendly is a part of the Healthy Child Quality Mark, which has been awarded to two thirds of Â鶹´«Ã½ schools.â€