George McNamara is Head of Policy and Public Affairs at Alzheimer's Society. He is currently supporting the implementation of the Prime Minister's challenge on dementia, in particular the creation of dementia-friendly communities.

Prior to joining Alzheimer's Society, George held senior policy positions at the British Red Cross and Action for Children and has written extensively on a variety of social policy issues. He has also worked in parliament and the civil service.


Presentation: Responding to the dementia challenge

The Prime Minister's challenge has gained significant momentum, but this must now be maintained and built upon. How will the new suite of health ministers handle dementia, and how will policies around personalisation, integration and funding of care and support improve the lives of those living with dementia and their families?

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Bill is Coventry born and bred. He says he hasn't got Alzheimer's; it's got him. An ex Royal Marine, he also worked in the motor industry in Coventry when there was one and he spent many years coaching young people in athletics. Bill is active in the local Alzheimer's Society in Coventry and inspired many new Alzheimer's Society recruits by speaking about his experience of living with dementia.

Presentation: Living well with dementia

Offering a vital insight into what life is like for one living with dementia. Understanding the needs and aspirations of people with dementia and their families is absolutely key in responding to the challenge.

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Helen Taylor cared for her husband Geoff for 10 years at home and made the very difficult decision to move him to a care home for the last four years of his life. They were married for 57 years before he passed away in 2011.

Over time, Helen found herself not only having to care more for her husband on a personal level, but also take on all the jobs that he previously did. Helen says: ''This was a big learning curve for me…. caring can become a very lonely existence.''

As time went on the burden of care took its toll and she was referred to an Admiral Nurse, who she describes as her lifeline, and essential to her wellbeing and mental stability.

Helen is a passionate and active member of Uniting Carers, which has enabled her to regain her confidence and speak to many about her role as a carer and the importance of challenging the stigma and isolation of dementia. She has spoken locally and nationally at conferences and events and has been featured on TV.

Presentation: Facing the challenges of caring for someone with dementia

The perspective of the carer is essential in any dialogue around dementia. The challenges of caring for a loved one who is living with dementia are great and varied, and must surely inform future health and social care policy.

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Laura Cook is Policy Officer at Alzheimer's Society. Since joining the Society in October 2011 has worked gathering evidence on loneliness among people with dementia and wrote a chapter on loneliness and people with dementia living alone for Dementia 2013: The hidden voice of loneliness. She has contributed to policy changes, such as the recognition to increase the diagnosis rates of dementia in the Mandate to NHS England.

Prior to working at Alzheimer's Society, Laura worked at Sense, the charity for deafblind people, firstly as Information Officer and later as Parliamentary and Public Policy Officer.

Presentation: The hidden voice of loneliness

Dementia 2013: The hidden voice of loneliness, is the second annual report exploring how well people with dementia are living. It found that over half of the general public (54 per cent) believe that people with dementia have a bad quality of life.

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Janet Jadavji has been in the social care profession for over 25 years. She has a background in social work and extensive knowledge of working with children and families. For the past 13 years she has worked as a consultant for over 20 different authorities, working in complaints as an investigator, independent chair and trainer. Janet also has personal experience of the difficulties of caring.

Two years ago Janet realised that something more had to be provided for families, carers and those who suffer from memory difficulties. She embarked on a project with her partner Alex, who has 25 years' expertise in IT, and started to create Yecco. Inspired by Janet's professional and personal experiences, the couple have designed a one-stop-shop that enables families to support each other, including the person they help to care for, and a tool that acts as an interface with professionals.

Yecco launched at the beginning of April and is a free website that enables anyone to support and plan for someone they help to care for. www.youtube.com/user/YeccoSavedMyLife, www.yecco.com

Presentation: Introducing Yecco

Innovative technology to assist the day to day lives of care-givers.

For more information on this presentation, please call Yecco on 0207 239 8909.

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Dr Simon Ridley is Head of Research at Alzheimer's Research UK (ARUK), a charity with a £20m grants programme. He frequently represents ARUK in the wider research funding and public policy environment and is a regular media spokesman on dementia research. Prior to this role, Simon spent almost 10 years in academic biomedical research in addition to four years in the biopharmaceutical sector.

Presentation: Defeating dementia through research

A key component of the Dementia Challenge, research is gaining increasing profile, and with it a hope that more effective treatments for Alzheimer's and other dementias will one day become a reality. How might this best be achieved, and what progress is being made?

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Yvonne Hague is the R&D Directorate Manager at the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust and has been working in NHS R&D business management for 15 years. Yvonne is experienced in financial and budget management, business development, risk management, innovation management, and the integration of R&D across clinical services. Yvonne joined the NHS Trust in 1997 after gaining valuable experience within the financial services and manufacturing industries. Her previous roles before joining the NHS have incorporated being a Partner in finance brokerage, financial underwriter, asset and costing management, sales and marketing for SME's and blue chip companies. At Wolverhampton, Yvonne has also spearheaded healthcare innovation within the Trust since 1998, which led to a successful six year Regional Development Agency programme introducing entrepreneurs into the healthcare sector to showcase, partner, sell, manufacture and market products. The first innovation assisted and commercialised was the nurse led Femmax®. After gaining her Degree in Business Administration in 2005, Yvonne continues to be motivated by the challenge and the complexities of R&D Operational and Strategic management which has over the years allowed her to design a number of systems and processes with colleagues to make the sustainability of R&D delivery robust, reducing duplication of effort and maximising the use of all available data. Clinical Research interests – Dementia.

Presentation: Living with dementia - a relative's experience

Yvonne Hague, presents a unique insight into living with Dementia, how it has affected her family and her motivation to improve the care and services for families living with Dementia. Joining the NHS, sixteen years ago, she thought she was in the ideal job as Head of Research and Innovation but this was only partly true.

As we join her to reflect on the often unspoken detailed life of a Dementia carer and the life changing journey that she has walked, we will be able to identify areas that we need to address as professionals and as member of society. Yvonne will highlight a compelling argument for reviewing our current perceptions in planning dementia care and draws particular attention to how we need to change services and support in the coming years ahead. Yvonne will also show how she driving research to help others in the future.

This first-hand account is an honest account of her experience delivered in a positive way. Her journey has a start, middle but no end as she continues to promote and show how in part we all should reflect on her experience to help improve the service and social understanding of how we can allow families choice when 'living with Dementia'.

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Sarah Waller is the Programme Director for the King's Fund's Enhancing the Healing Environment (EHE) Programme.

She joined the King's Fund in 2000 to develop the programme, having had a long career working at all levels in the NHS both in nursing and human resource management.

The EHE programme is currently working with over 230 teams from organisations across the country that deliver NHS services, including acute and mental health trusts, hospices and prisons, to improve the patient environment. The programme is currently focused on developing more supportive design for people with dementia in hospitals.

Sarah is a judge for the Building Better Healthcare Awards and a member of the Design Council's Advisory Group for its 'Living Well With Dementia Challenge'. A former Non-Executive Director and Vice Chair of the London Ambulance Service NHS Trust, she was appointed CBE for services to nursing and the NHS in 2008.

Presentation: Improving the care environment for people with dementia

Enhancing the Healing Environment (EHE) projects in dementia care are already showing how relatively small changes to the environment can reduce anxiety, accidents and incidents of challenging behaviour.

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Simon Denegri is the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) National Director for Public Participation and Engagement in Research. He is also the Chair of INVOLVE. Previously he was Chief Executive of the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC) from 2006-2011.

Simon's background is in campaigning and communications and has included roles such as Assistant Chief Executive and Head of Public Affairs at the Alzheimer's Society in 2002-2003 and 1992-1997 respectively. The latter coincided with the formation of the Society's Quality Research in Dementia (QRD) public involvement programme.

Presentation: Is there a patient in the house? - public involvement in research

You have a right to choose to take part in research, so what are we doing about it? Find out what you can do as a patient to get involved in clinical research to help shape the future of your disease.

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Ian Sherriff is a founder member of the Plymouth University Dementia Group. Their research to date includes: 'Early Diagnosis of Dementia in Plymouth' Dementia Quality Mark for residential care, evaluation of day opportunities provided by the voluntary and private sector for individuals with dementia and their carers, evaluation of the Plymouth Dementia Action Alliance and the Dementia Friendly Parishes around the Yealm. The team has presented their work at the Alzheimer's International Conference 2012, the All Wales Dementia Conference 2012 and the Prime Minister's Dementia Challenge launch. They will also be presenting at the Department of Health Expo 2013.

Ian is a member of the Prime Minister's Dementia Friendly Communities Challenge Group and a trustee on the board nationally for the Alzheimer's Society. Ian is an advisor to Devon County Council for their Centre of Excellence approach to dementia care. He is a founder member of the Plymouth Dementia Alliance and Dementia Friendly Parishes around the Yealm.


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