On Wednesday 4th September COSLA's Health and Social Care Spokesperson, Councillor Paul Kelly, along with the Cabinet Secretary for Health & Social Care and members of the National Dementia Lived Experience Panel, launched the Rethink Dementia Campaign.

Rethink Dementia has been developed with members of the National Dementia Lived Experience Panel, as well as a range of partners and key stakeholders. The campaign is a key deliverable from COSLA and the Scottish Government’s joint strategy “Dementia in Scotland - Everyone’s Story”, which was published in May 2023.

There is often a lack of understanding around dementia being a progressive disease and that in the earlier stages particularly, people can live independent, fulfilling lives. Instead, we often associate a dementia diagnosis with people living in the later stages of the disease, possibly confused, occasionally violent and heavily reliant on others.

The aim of the Rethink Dementia campaign is to raise awareness of and to break down the barriers that people with dementia face within communities, with a clear call to action for all of us to think differently about dementia and those with a diagnosis - and to think differently about the role that you, as a family member or friend, have in the lives of people you know or might know in the future with dementia.

The campaign reminds us to focus on the person, not the condition, and is centred around treating people with dementia exactly as they did before the diagnosis – highlighting the simple ways people can help their family and friends who have been diagnosed to stay connected.

Posters designed for the Rethink Dementia campaign focus on simple ways you can be there for someone living with dementia. They show that doing the same things you always did together matters, and that this can help people living with dementia stay well for longer.

The campaign will run for 5 weeks across multiple channels: TV, cinema, radio, press, digital and out-of-home advertising partnerships. A video has been shared on YouTube which accompanies this campaign.

Speaking after the event, Councillor Kelly said:

"I’m delighted to be launching the Rethink Dementia Campaign today. The campaign is a clear call to all of us to think differently about dementia and those with a diagnosis. It highlights very clearly the simple ways that we can support people with dementia to stay connected to their local communities.”

Further information

A full campaign toolkit with links to social media assets and posters has been developed for the campaign and can be accessed below.