The Alzheimer Society of Finland, Muistiliitto, welcomed the conference to Helsinki after 26 years. Bringing insights from the Finnish dementia scene, we were glad to have the opportunity to work with the dedicated Alzheimer Europe team to build a topical programme. With a multitude of plenaries, parallel sessions, quick oral presentations and posters we wanted to reflect the richness of approaches to dementia in current research, care and best practices. – With prevention potential of 40 percent, promoting brain health during the whole life course needs to be a worldwide priority in tackling the growing number of diagnoses in the future.
Finland has been paving the way in dementia prevention research; thus, latest developments in FINGER trials around the world took centre stage in the programme, Katariina Suomu, Executive Director, points out. An emerging theme, inclusion aroused interest among many delegates. Both research findings and personal accounts stressed the importance of equal access and opportunities to all people living with dementia and their carers. Overall, the voice of people living with dementia was perhaps stronger than ever. The work of EWGPWD members and other individual sharing their stories is key to making sure that people living with dementia remain the common thread of our work.
Finally, it was a great delight to see a new generation of researchers joining the conference. We need passionate professionals also in the future. A special programme of Finnish sessions offered (Finnish) delegates an opportunity to learn in depth about developments in Finland as well as to network with their local colleagues. Among other things, it provided a sneak peek of latest statistics of prevalence and incidence of dementia in our country. A session with the Finnish Institute of Health and Welfare shed light on their long-standing memory service path project that aims to provide older population and at-risk groups with preventive measures and to strengthen equality of services and works in close cooperation with a number of actors to implement lifestyle interventions. A live event is very much about networking, building bridges between countries and individuals, theory and practice. The buzz created by over 1,000 delegates sent a strong message about our common will to work towards a dementia-friendly world, and the ambitious steps taken in this direction. Pictured: Professor Jenni Kulmala, Chairperson of Alzheimer Society of Finland at the opening ceremony
