In 2015, Alzheimer Europe:
Campaigned
- received support from the European Commission in the form of an operating grant for the organisation’s core activities
- conducted the Glasgow Declaration campaign in support for national dementia strategies in every European country and received the endorsement of 203 organisations,152 policy makers and 11,613 individuals
- attended the WHO Ministerial Conference on Global Action Against Dementia
- increased the membership of the European Alzheimer’s Alliance (EAA) in the European Parliament to 126 MEPs from 27 Member States
- attended a meeting of the European Commission Group of Government Experts on dementia
- continued its active involvement in the European Patients’ Forum (EPF) as a full member and the think tank of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA)
- welcomed the adoption of national dementia strategies in Austria, Denmark and Norway, the recognition of dementia as a European priority thanks to the leadership of the Luxembourg Presidency of the European Union and the launch of a new Joint Action on Dementia
- joined the new SMART4MD and SyDAD projects
- represented Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI) at the 65th session of the World Health Organisation Regional Committee for Europe
Communicated
- produced the 2015 Dementia in Europe Yearbook, a comparative report on the development of dementia-friendly communities in Europe
- published 607 articles in 11 editions of its email newsletter
- created an Expert Advisory Panel to ensure accurate scientific reporting and published a scientific digest reviewed by the panel
- attracted 737,858 unique visitors to its website, an increase of 23.5% over the previous year
- produced a guide on the ethical dilemmas faced by health and social care professionals in hospitals and care homes
- launched the Alzheimer’s Association Academy as a new way of sharing best practices and promoting capacity building among its members
- submitted a scientific article on guidelines for good continence care for people with dementia
- increased its social media presence to 4,034 Twitter followers (2,200 in 2014) and 5,873 “likes” on its Facebook page (up from 5,000)
- published three editions of the “Dementia in Europe” magazine that included interviews with EU and national policy makers, reports on the EU Presidency terms of Italy and Luxembourg and AE activities such as the European Parliament lunch debates and Annual Conference
- contributed to the European Patients’ Forum position paper on discrimination in healthcare
Collaborated
- continued its collaboration with the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP-AHA) on age-friendly environments
- partnered with Spomincica – Alzheimer Slovenia to organise the 25th Alzheimer Europe Conference in Ljubljana on 2–4 September under the motto “Dementia: putting strategies and research into practice”, attracting 570 delegates of which 26 people with dementia
- worked with INTERDEM to call for greater EU collaboration on dementia and organised a joint meeting with the Cabinet of the EU Health Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis
- continued its collaboration with the AETIONOMY, AFE-INNOVNET, EMIF, NILVAD, PACE, PharmaCog and PredictND projects
- started its collaboration within EPAD (European Prevention of Alzheimer’s Dementia) where Alzheimer Europe is co-leading the work package dedicated to communication and dissemination and contributing to the discussions on the ethical, legal and social implications of the project
- actively consulted people with dementia on its activities through the European Working Group of People with Dementia (EWGPWD), which involved ten people with dementia nominated by their national organisations
Coordinated
- welcomed new member associations EMDA (Israel) and Udruženje AiR (Bosnia and Herzegovina) during its Annual General Meeting
- brought together public affairs representatives of its member associations to exchange information and best practices on national dementia strategies and policies
- involved the European Working Group of People with Dementia in the preparations and organisation of the 2015 Annual Conference in Glasgow, in various meetings and projects and through its Chairperson in the Board of the organisation
- organised two lunch debates in Brussels entitled “The WHO and the World Dementia Council and global action on dementia: what role for the EU?” and “Dementia, a priority of two EU Presidencies”
- continued the development of its Clinical Trial and Guideline Watch projects which inventory clinical trials conducted in Europe and national guidelines for the diagnosis, treatment and management of dementia in Europe
- carried out a membership survey of past activities and future priorities and developed a new Strategic Plan (2016–2020) which was approved unanimously by the membership