BEATING the stigma of dementia is top of Warwickshire County Council’s agenda for World Alzheimer’s Month.
The council has joined an international ‘Remember Me’ campaign calling for people to share their memories or memories of a loved one on social media.
The campaign aims to raise awareness of dementia and the stigma surrounding it.
As part of Alzheimer’s Month, the council is also promoting the Dementia Friend initiative, which helps people understand the small ways they can help those suffering from the disease.
The friends make changes such as visiting someone with the condition, volunteering for a dementia charity or making other people aware of the initiative.
The council hope 30,000 residents, businesses and organisations will sign up to the programme, which requires people to watch a video about dementia or attend a one hour session about the illness, over the next three years.
Spokesman for health, Coun Alan Webb said: “We hope that by encouraging Warwickshire residents to become a Dementia Friend, we will increase understanding on how the condition affects people, and what a huge difference they can make.
“Our target of 30,000 Dementia Friends is an ambitious one, but it’s an ambition worth realising.”
Visit www.dementiafriends.org.uk to sign up or find out more.
To share a memory of a loved one on social media use the hashtags #RememberMe and #WAM2016.
