Looking back, looking forward

A message from ADI as 2018 comes to a close and what we look forward to in 2019.

What a great year 2018 has been for ADI!

Amongst many highlights, we have gained six new members, hosted four Alzheimer University training programmes, released four major reports, and seen the development of three new national dementia plans. Innovation, especially in care, is so important in our work with the continued absence of a disease modifying treatment.

At the end of 2018, we wanted to showcase the achievements of our members because they are the inspiration that drives everything we do. The video towards the bottom of the page features some of the inspirational work of our members and developing members in the key areas of care, organisational growth, and addressing stigma.

Some other notable achievements this year include: ensuring dementia was specifically mentioned in the 13th WHO General Programme of Work; releasing our ‘Every 3 Seconds’ documentary with ITN Productions; the biggest World Alzheimer’s Month campaign to date and a great programme and attendance at our international and regional conferences.

It is only through the innovative work of our members and wider networks, and through the support of our sponsors that we can achieve our goals.

Some priority areas for ADI in 2019:

We will continue to focus on developing our partnerships.

This year, we partnered with OECD for the launch of their report ‘Care Needed’ and the Global Coalition of Ageing on their Dementia Innovation Readiness Indexes. We worked with the Karolinska Institutet and Professor Anders Wimo on the launch of the ‘Global estimates of informal care’ report. We developed a new partnership with Swedish Care International; a country which has now committed to developing a national dementia strategy and working with our Swedish member, we are delighted to announce our new Global Ambassador, Her Majesty Queen Silvia of Sweden.

We will continue to focus on entrepreneurship, innovation and technology, which is crucial to the future of this challenge. One wonderful example is using webinar technology to for our research participation series. We had over 500 people from over 60 countries register for our first webinar.

We will continue to support countries to develop national dementia plans. We had only three new plans this year, which while encouraging, is not enough. We must do everything we can to encourage governments to develop plans at a quicker pace. We launched an update to our ‘From plan to impact’ report, showing progress against the Global action plan on dementia.

We were delighted at the quality and engagement at our 33rd International Conference in Chicago, USA, which focused on entrepreneurship and innovation. We are already working on our next global gathering in March 2020 and on having a presence at regional meetings across the globe in 2019.

The STRiDE research project is progressing well, with core fieldwork activities planned for early 2019. And we are delighted to announce ADI’s participation as an external collaborator in COGNISANCE, a project funded by the Joint Programme on Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND) alongside our partner Dementia Alliance International (DAI).

Our World Alzheimer Report 2018 took an innovative approach, reaching beyond academic and policy audiences, appealing to anyone with an interest in the hopes and frustrations of dementia research. Our World Alzheimer Report 2019 will build on this, addressing stigma and raising awareness – aligned with a World Alzheimer’s Month campaign on the same theme.

In order for us to achieve these priorities, and others, we are asking you to help us in a smaller way, by taking a moment to donate what you can to support our work. We will not rest until dementia is properly acknowledged as the epidemic it is and addressed promptly and appropriately. Your help can make us get there faster.