On 15 April, the European Working Group of People with Dementia (EWGPWD) held its first zoom meeting. There were two main objectives for this meeting. The first was to check whether everyone was OK and coping well during the pandemic and at the same time to give everyone the opportunity to say hello to each other. The second was to test whether this kind of meeting was feasible for such a large group of people with dementia. There was a fantastic turnout. All but one member of the group participated. Some had overcome difficulties with the technology. Some had never used it before and were on their own. Tomaž from Slovenia had a very innovative solution. He was able to link up by Skype and for his supporter, Alenka, who was not with him, to transmit the video image to everyone on zoom.
The meeting lasted for 2 hours with a 15-minute break. There was a very productive discussion about Alzheimer Europe's work developing a section on its website for information about COVID-19. We are currently collecting feedback from each member of the group on how to improve such meetings, bearing mind the limitations of such an approach during a pandemic, with people dispersed across the whole of Europe, many isolated in their homes without their usual support. People have very different needs and we might not find a perfect solution for everyone so this will not be our only approach to keeping the group going during these difficult times. It was, however, a really nice experience and one possible approach, albeit with some tweaks to be made, to keeping in touch and continuing to work together as a group. Ana and Dianne from Alzheimer Europe took part in the meeting.
