Have an idea about or experience in talking about dementia (yours or someone else’s)? Please consider sending it to Stand Up Speak Out, a collaboration among Richard Taylor, Laura Bramly and Alzheimer’s Disease International.
Our plan is to set up something that looks like and can be used by others as a library of ideas/suggestions about how others have stood up and spoken about their experiences with dementia, especially those living with the symptoms of dementia.
There will be books in the library and each book will be full of ideas for some target group to consider using during World Dementia Awareness Month. Right now we are going to start out with three volumes of ideas, one for people living with the symptoms of dementia, one for their care partners, and one for professionals. As ideas flow in from around the world we will created more books of what/how individuals of a defined group do to stand up and speak out about dementia, based upon their personal experiences.
...suggest ways to flood the world one specific idea at a time with awareness of what it is like to live with dementia, to specifically address the myths and stigmas that almost always accompany the diagnosis and/or revelation of the symptoms of dementia, to encourage, enable and support people living with dementia to be more open with others about their disability, and so on.
You can send ideas to Laura Bramly and Richard Taylor at standupspeakout2011@gmail.com, preferably ASAP! Your idea will then be posted on the website in time for the launch date.
Here are some instructions from them:
Our hope is to have a photo of each author, a brief couple of hundred words description of the idea, and a web page, book, and/or email address for readers to contact the author if they want more information. Ideas can be written in an informal tone and should have the following components.
1. Subject line/title: One short sentence describing your idea.
2. Introduce yourself (whatever information you are comfortable making public). For example:
• Your name (at least your first name), where you live (town, state/province, country).
• If you have dementia, what form of dementia (Alzheimer's, Lewy Body, etc.), how long since your diagnosis.
• If you are a care partner, for whom, how long, what form of dementia.
• If you are a professional in the field of dementia, what do you do and where?
3. Summarize your idea.
You can outline your idea and the reasons behind it; perhaps you are basing your activity on your own personal experience. If you think that talking about your personal experience will help someone else to understand and implement your idea, then please provide as much information as you feel comfortable.
4. Who should think about implementing this idea?
For example, is your idea targeted to a person with dementia, a doctor, an activity director? This doesn't mean your idea is restricted to only being done by that type of person; this information just helps us categorize your idea and make it easier to find on the website.
5. Contact Information: Web page, book, and/or email address of the idea author
6. SEND US YOUR PICTURE! Please send one or two photos that you think represent the faces of dementia in your country, so that we can put a face to dementia and also make the website more visually interesting. The photos don't have to be close-ups; it would be great to get photos of people engaging with other people. Perhaps you have some photos from a Memory Café, a meeting, a walk, a trip. Make sure that you have permission from the subject(s) of the photograph to use their image. Ask them to send you an email or letter confirming their permission to post their picture on the web.
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