Please see below for a list of our conference symposium sessions. A synopsis of each session will follow in due course. Attendees can select 2 sessions on the day of the conference.

  • About Dementia - Age Scotland:
    ‘Releasing the potential of SDS for those affected by dementia’
    We are all entitled to have control over our own lives and to live as independently as possible. Yet, Scottish Government figures show that less than 10% of people with a primary diagnosis of dementia are using Self-Directed Support. This symposium will explore the barriers that people experiencing dementia, both people living with dementia and unpaid carers, face when trying to access self-directed support. Drawing from engagement of those with lived experience, we’ll challenge pre-existing stereotypes to encourage an adoption of an aspirational and enabling approach to dementia care and support.
     
  • Kirrie Connections:
    'Meeting Centres - local community support to help people adjust to living well with dementia'
    Meeting Centres are an evidence-based, hyper-local model of community support for both people living with dementia and their unpaid family carers. Originally developed by the University of Amsterdam, Meeting Centres are now opening all over the world. In this symposium, the model and research base will be explored, with data from the research team at the University of Worcester's Association of Dementia Studies, an overview of the first Meeting Centre in Scotland, Kirrie Connections, and a discussion about the involvement of people living with dementia and their families in how the model is developing in Scotland.
     
  • Scottish Government's Dementia Policy Team:
    'Sharing your views on dementia in Scotland'

    The Minister for Mental Wellbeing and Social Care recently announced work getting underway on a new Dementia Strategy for Scotland that will be co-produced with people with lived experience and wider partners. This session offers an initial opportunity to share your views on what works well for you in dementia support in Scotland and what changes you would like to see.  The session will be facilitated by the Scottish Government’s Dementia Policy Unit.
     

  • Playlist for Life:
    'Join the growing network of Music Detectives!' 
    What music takes you back to your teenage years? To a special place, person or time? Everyone has a unique soundtrack to their life, and a growing body of evidence shows that music with personal meaning attached can have multiple benefits for people living with dementia. To discover the soundtrack of a person’s life, you need to become a Music Detective.  Music and dementia charity Playlist for Life’s work is based on over two decades of scientific evidence and is a proven non-pharmacological intervention used within care homes, NHS wards and community settings around the UK. Join Playlist for Life’s Vice President and the first ‘Music Detective’, Andy Lowndes, to hear about the recent updates to the growing evidence-base for personalised playlists, witness the real impact they can have for people affected by dementia, and learn how to use this simple but highly effective tool. Everyone has a soundtrack to their life, and anyone can become a Music Detective. Let us show you how! 
     
  • Focus on Dementia:
    'Supporting Quality Improvement in Dementia' 
    Focus on Dementia is a national improvement portfolio based within the improvement hub of Healthcare Improvement Scotland. Taking a whole pathway approach, their work supports improvements in: diagnosis and post-diagnostic support, care co-ordination in the community, hospital settings, including acute, community hospitals and specialist dementia units, and palliative and end of life care. Our work is underpinned by a Learning System which is how we describe the range of activities that we facilitate to enable sharing, learning and connecting across the wider dementia health and care system. All of this work is supporting the implementation of Scotland’s dementia strategies and informing future policy and practice. This symposium will provide an overview of the current improvements we are supporting across Scotland with the opportunity for questions and discussion. 
     
  • Confident Conversations in Research - Edinburgh University:
    'Confident Conversations in Research: developing a training package for Alzheimer Scotland staff'
    Alzheimer Scotland are partnering with the NRS Neuroprogressive and Dementia Network to develop training materials which will be used with all Alzheimer Scotland staff over the next few years to help them have confident conversations about research with the people they work with. Join Emma Law, Neil Fullerton, and Tom Russ for an interactive session to suggest what should be included in this national training and how it could be most usefully implemented.
     
  • Football Memories Scotland:
    'Reconnecting memories through sport' 
    Our lively session will introduce the work of Football Memories Scotland, a national partnership between Alzheimer Scotland and the Scottish Football Museum with over 400 affiliated groups. Project Director Richard McBrearty will introduce some of the reminiscence resources available while Jordan Allison, Charity Manager at Kilmarnock FC and Robert Harvey, Football Memories Coordinator for Glasgow will provide an insight into the impact of the project within local communities. To top it off, football legend Mark Hateley will recount some of his own special memories as a player.
     
  • Herbert Protocol - Police Scotland and Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership:
    The Herbert Protocol is a UK wide recognised scheme that has been used many times to help police quickly and safely locate missing people who have dementia. It is form based and provides vital information such description, photograph, often visited places, health issues. Come along to this session to hear more about what the Herbert Protocol is, how it can be used, the national implementation and the Missing with Dementia Return Discussions Pilot in Edinburgh.