Ten projects led by community-based organisations from 8 European countries were awardes in Brussels on 16 January within the European Foundation Initiative on Dementia. The awards, each worth up to 10,000 EUR, are designed to recognize and encourage the dissemination of good practices that help people with dementia and their families to live well and participate actively in their local community.

Improving perceptions of dementia and stimulating solidarity at local level were the motivation for a group of foundations, comprising The Atlantic Philanthropies, the Fondation Médéric Alzheimer, the King Baudouin Foundation and the Robert Bosch Stiftung, to join forces and launch the ‘Living well with Dementia in the Community’ Awards.

By rewarding the best local initiatives to promote social inclusion through a Europe-wide awards scheme, the European Foundations’ Initiative on Dementia hopes to encourage other projects in the field of building awareness about dementia.

Descriptions of the projects are available at the following link.

Background

The European Foundations Initiative on Dementia (EFID) is one project around 'Living well with dementia – A European initiative for more dignity and solidarity for people with dementia'. It is promoted within the Network of European Foundations and it aims at improving the perception of dementia and stimulating solidarity at the local level in order to contribute to a better quality of life for people with dementia and their carers.  Dementia remains one of the most important challenges in European society. The best available estimates indicate that in 2006 over 7,3 million EU citizens between 30 and 99 lived with dementia (14,6 per 1 000 inhabitants). It is expected that this number will double by 2040.