There are currently around 200,000 people with dementia in Portugal and, according to projections from Alzheimer Europe, this number will rise to around 350,000 by 2050. At national level, there are few museum offers designed specifically for people with dementia and their carers. A national network of museums for inclusion in dementia has therefore been created to develop and share good practices, train the teams from cultural institutions and raise awareness in the community about the subject of dementia, which is increasingly relevant from a social and public health point of view. The twelve entities that are the founding members of this informal network, called Museums for Inclusion in Dementia (MID), are: Access Culture, Alzheimer Portugal, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation – CAM (Centro de Arte Moderna), Botanical Garden of the University of Coimbra, MAAT - Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology, Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Science Museum of the University of Coimbra, Museum of Lisbon, Pombal Municipal Museum, Grão Vasco National Museum, Machado de Castro National Museum and Viseu Mercy Treasure Museum.
The MID network has as its general objectives to contribute to:
• increase autonomy
• well-being
• dignity
• social and cultural participation
• quality of life of people with dementia and their carers
• raise awareness among the teams of cultural institutions that want to create specific responses for people with dementia and their carers, to empower teams as real agents of change
• contributing to a more inclusive society by reducing the stigma associated with dementia.
For more information, please send an email to: redemid2023@gmail.com