On 15 and 16 October 2023, the European Dementia Carers Working Group (EDCWG) held a meeting in Helsinki, Finland. On the first day, the group offered feedback on the Alzheimer Europe Yearbook recommendations on legal capacity and supported decision-making. Clarissa Giebel, leader of the INTERDEM Taskforce "Inequalities in Dementia Care," then joined the meeting to present some of her research and gather input from group members. The EDCWG also made some final preparations for their workshop session titled “When Care Homes Stop Caring”, held as part of the 33rd Alzheimer Europe Conference (33AEC). On the second day of the meeting, Soraya Moradi Bachiller (Alzheimer Europe) shared some of the work conducted as part of the Pattern-Cog project, for which the EDCWG serves as advisory group members.
The group members expressed their perspectives on issues related to disclosing dementia risk and raising awareness about brain health. In the final part of the meeting, they provided ideas on how to ensure that meetings and travel arrangements for people with dementia are inclusive. Alzheimer Europe would like to thank the group's Chairperson Sonata Mačiulskytė (pictured, furthest right) and Vice-Chairperson Trevor Salomon (pictured, third from right), for their impressive work organising the EDCWG workshop session at 33AEC, titled “When Care Homes Stop Caring”, and for facilitating the discussion together with other members of the group. The workshop was very well attended and delegates participated very actively, providing useful feedback. Alzheimer Europe would also like to thank all EDCWG members for their active contributions throughout the whole of 33AEC, including presenting, chairing and participating in other conference sessions, as well as disseminating information about the EDCWG.
