Have your say on the draft NZ Dementia Action Plan

Dementia presents a major challenge for New Zealand and globally. In response to the WHO’s calls for action, many countries around the world are implementing dementia action plans. In New Zealand, the Framework for Dementia Care has been in place since 2013, but current services are not always meeting the needs of people with dementia.

The draft New Zealand Dementia Action Plan has been drafted by Alzheimers NZ, Dementia NZ, and the NZ Dementia Cooperative. It centres around four over-arching objectives for the period 2020-2023:

beginning work to reduce the incidence of dementia;
increasing support to enable people living with dementia and their family/carers to live well;
strengthening capability across the sector;
building more accepting and understanding communities

We are really keen to hear your thoughts:

• Do the principles provide the right foundation for this Plan?
• Are the objectives the right ones?
• Will the proposed actions make a difference for people living with dementia?
• What have we missed?

The answers to these questions will help us to finalise the New Zealand Dementia Action Plan and it will then be presented to Hon Dr David Clark and Hon Jenny Salesa, for their consideration.

The plan will provide Ministers with a clear sector-wide view of our priorities for improving the provision of supports and services for people with dementia and their support partners. We expect that it will help shape activities under the refreshed Healthy Ageing Strategy’s Implementation Plan.