About the project
Age Scotland is proud to host About Dementia: Shaping Our Worlds Together – Scotland’s forum for improving lives. Launched in April 2019 thanks to funding from the Life Changes Trust, we work with people affected by dementia to make changes to the things that are most important to them. We know that a lot of good work is being done around Scotland both nationally and locally, but we also know that many people affected by dementia are still struggling to get the support they need when they need it. About Dementia believes that people affected by dementia, including people living with dementia and unpaid carers, are in the best position to say what is and isn’t working and how to do it better.
We bring together people affected by dementia, and organisations who are interested in working for change, to look at how we can improve policy and practice across many different areas of life.
We want to hear from you about the changes you would like to see. See below for more information about becoming involved.
Become involved
By signing up to our mailing list, you will be kept updated about the project via our quarterly newsletters, including our policy work and relevant news.
Our work is done via a number of sub-groups, each of which is involved with a particular policy issue, such as transport. Each sub-group has regular meetings, which rotate around Scotland and, more recently, have taken place via the online platform Zoom. If you are interested in becoming involved in a sub-group, there are a number of ways you can be involved. You can attend meetings to share your knowledge and experience of a particular issue, you can contribute over email or phone call, or you can just be kept informed of the work we do. It is up to you how involved you would like to be, and you can attend as many or as few meetings as you would like.
By signing up to our mailing list, you will be kept updated about the project via our quarterly newsletters, including our policy work and relevant news. If you are interested in hearing about a particular sub-group topic, you can indicate this on the sign-up form to receive invites to upcoming meetings you can take part in and general updates about our work on that policy topic.
Become a member
You can sign up to become a forum member and specify your areas of interest at the 'Get involved' page here.
For more information
For further information about the project, please contact the About Dementia team. We are happy to help with any queries, and can be contacted by email at aboutdementia@agescotland.org.uk
If you are interested in staying up to date with the project via social media, you can follow us on Twitter. Our handle is @AboutDementiaSc.
You can also contact us by phone via the Age Scotland switchboard on 0333 323 2400.
Our postal address is:
About Dementia Team
C/O Age Scotland
Causewayside House
160 Causewayside
Edinburgh
EH9 1PR
Our Team
About Dementia is facilitated by a team of staff and volunteers within Age Scotland.
Dr Kainde Manji, Project Manager
Email: kainde.manji@agescotland.org.uk
Michael McMahon, Policy Officer
Email: michael.mcmahon@agescotland.org.uk
Adam Huntley, Administration and Resource Officer
Email: adam.huntley@agescotland.org.uk
Maxine Meighan, Influencing and Engagement Officer
Email: maxine.meighan@agescotland.org.uk
Dr Rosie Ashworth, Volunteer
Our partnerships
‘The About Dementia Project work in partnership with the BOLD (Bringing Out Leaders in Dementia) Project, Funded by Life Changes Trust and hosted by Queen Margaret University and The University of Edinburgh.
Below you will find a list of organisations that are supporting our work, and links to their websites where you can find out more about what they do.
Prof. Alan Gow, Heriot Watt University.
British Deaf Association Scotland
Central Scotland Regional Equality Council
REACH Community Health Project
Scottish Commission for Learning Disability
Our aims
- To discuss and debate evidence and learning from existing practice, drawing out best practice and influencing policy makers so that it is embedded in policy and used in practice.
- To identify gaps in policy, practice and research and carry out work to address these gaps, seeking funding where necessary.
- To identify seemingly insurmountable challenges in policy and practice and discover solutions to these challenges, which could be implemented.
- To influence policy makers, key leaders, practitioners and others in Scotland to adjust or re-write policy so that the needs of people with dementia, their families and unpaid carers are met and their lives fundamentally transformed for the better.
- The forum will operate from the grassroots up, and influencing at a local level will be as important as influencing at a national level.