We are pleased to announce that the membership of the European Working Group of People with Dementia (EWGPWD) has been renewed and that the new incarnation of the group officially began its mandate after the Annual General Meeting of Alzheimer Europe (18 June 2024). As of 15 July 2024, the group has voted in its Executive members, with Kevin Quaid (Ireland) becoming the group's new Chairperson and Lieselotte "Lilo" Klotz (Germany) its new Vice-Chairperson. Many congratulations to them both and a big thank you to the group's former Chairperson Chris Roberts (Chairperson from 2020-2024) and Vice-Chairpersons Margaret McCallion (Vice-Chairperson from 2022-2024) and Kevin Quaid (Vice-Chairperson from 2022-2024).
The EWGPWD is now composed of the following 14 members, four of whom are new to the group:
Chairperson • Kevin Quaid, Ireland ♂
Vice-Chairperson • Lieselotte Klotz, Germany ♀
Members
• Kjell Ehn, Sweden ♂ (new member)
• Nigel Hullah, United Kingdom ♂
• Erla Jónsdóttir, Iceland ♀
• Minna Kinnunen, Finland♀(new member)
• Real Larnou, Belgium ♂
• Margaret McCallion, United Kingdom ♀
• Angela Pototschnigg, Austria ♀
• Chris Roberts, United Kingdom ♂
• Shelagh Robinson, United Kingdom ♀
• Jan Runar Eliassen, Norway ♂ (new member)
• Věra Ryšavá, Czechia ♀
• Gerda Van Tongerloo, Netherlands ♀ (new member).
The EWGPWD was launched by Alzheimer Europe and its member associations in 2012. The group is composed entirely of people with dementia who are nominated by their national Alzheimer associations. They work to ensure that the activities, projects and meetings of Alzheimer Europe duly reflect the priorities and views of people with dementia. The group operates independently and members elect their own Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson. The Chairperson is also an ex-officio member on the Board of Alzheimer Europe, with full voting rights. For more information about the group, see: https://www.alzheimer-europe.org/about-us/european-working-group-people-dementia
Alzheimer Europe would like to express its gratitude to outgoing members Bernd Heise (Germany), Marguerite Keating (Ireland), Pia Knudsen (Denmark), Petri Lampinen (Finland), and Stephen John McCleery (Italy), for their important contributions and we wish them well. They will be sorely missed!