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Voices of people with dementia, their families and carers to shape new strategy.

People with dementia and their carers will be at the forefront of improving the help and support they receive as a National Conversation is launched on the condition.

This will be the first step towards a new dementia strategy. People living with dementia, their families and carers will be given the opportunity to spell out what is important to them, what needs to change, and how to build on the first dementia strategy in 2010.

This National Conversation will include a series of online and in-person discussions to make it as easy as possible to contribute. The responses will feed into a new strategy – driven by the National Dementia Lived Experience Panel - which will provide tangible ways to improve the lives of those living with the condition.

This builds on existing work on dementia. Last year the Scottish Government provided an additional £3.5 million over two years to strengthen the support given people with dementia and their families after a diagnosis. This funding is on top of an estimated £2.2 billion spent on dementia by local delivery partners annually.

Minister for Social Care Kevin Stewart said:

“Scotland has a track record in supporting people living with dementia, as shown by our world leading commitment to provide immediate support in the first year after people receive a dementia diagnosis.

“If we are to improve that record further, we need to put people and carers at the vanguard of our policy work – helping us develop a new story together that improves the understanding of dementia and allows more people to live well with it.”

Background:

A national conversation to inform a new Dementia Strategy

Discussion paper

Responses will be open until Monday 5 December. The Scottish Government will work with the Lived Experience Panel to develop responses into a fully-formed, outcomes-focused Strategy. This will be published by April 2023.