Federazione Alzheimer Italia inaugurated a national campaign on the occasion of the World Alzheimer's Month. "Don't forget to love me" (“Non dimenticarti di volermi bene”) is the name of this campaign launched on 6 September 2021 with the aim of raising awareness and encouraging more and more people to become Dementia Friends. They hope to create a group of citizens in Italy who are aware and informed about dementia, in order to break down the stigma that surrounds the disease and create a more inclusive society for all those living with dementia and for their families.
Thanks to the organisation's meeting with Lorenzo Baglioni, a singer-songwriter from Florence, a collaboration was born that led to the idea of communicating to everyone the importance of not forgetting those with dementia. Lorenzo wrote a new song entitled "Don't forget to love me"(“Non dimenticarti di volermi bene”). He involved Paolo Ruffini, a famous Italian actor, and together they sang this song and produced a video to raise public awareness and invite as many people as possible to become Dementia Friends. The two artists chose to donate the song to Federazione Alzheimer Italia and from this gesture the campaign #Nontiscordaredivolermibene was born.
“Music is fundamental in the emotional relationship between the person with dementia and his past because it helps to awaken memories and emotions that the disease tends to keep hidden. The first time I listened to 'Non dimenticarti di volermi bene' I was very impressed by the delicacy with which it talks about the progressive loss of memory and how to find a way to continue speaking to the heart of the person with dementia. We are therefore extremely happy that these artists have decided to be by our side by becoming Dementia Friends and inviting, with their concrete example, more and more people to be so", commented Gabriella Salvini Porro, President of Federazione Alzheimer Italia.
The campaign's call to action goes beyond using the song and directs the audience to visit the website www.nontiscordare.org (meaning "donotforget") which contains information on the disease and from there it is possible to start a training course (video and text) to become Dementia Friend. “Non dimenticarti di volermi bene” achieved great success on social media, thanks to a massive online presence and a series of influencers who joined forces, and during World Alzheimer's Day it was also brought to national television (Rai), reaching millions of people. Find out more about the wider Dementia Friends campaign and about the song, in the upcoming "Dementia in Europe" magazine for October 2021.
