British Prime Minister David Cameron took part in the Alzheimer’s Society’s inaugural Dementia Friends information session yesterday morning.
The free, volunteer-led initiative has been set up by the charity to provide people with a better understanding of the condition and will take place in different locations around the country.
Dementia Friends has been jointly funded by the Department of Health (DH) and the Cabinet Office, as part of Cameron’s Challenge on Dementia – a national programme aimed at boosting research and addressing quality of care for people living with the condition.
“This is a massively important issue for our country,” Cameron explained.
“There are 800,000 people with dementia already and we’re heading towards a million.
“Of course we need to do more medical research and improve our health and social care, but all of us have a role too.
“We’re aiming for a million people to become Dementia Friends between now and 2015.
“Today’s session was fascinating. I really enjoyed it and I learnt a great deal. I hope that up and down the country, people will get involved in the sessions and learn a little bit more about how we as a community can become more dementia-friendly,” he said.
In addition to signing up to the sessions, the charity is also calling on people to champion the programme in their community.
Volunteers will attend a training courses, receive on-going support and will be encouraged to set up Dementia Friend sessions locally.
The event coincides with the launch of a new NHS Innovation Challenge partnership with Janssen Healthcare Innovation, which involves a public prize fund for innovation in reshaping dementia care.