Implications for Dementia Policy Advocacy and Design: Lessons from Walking the Talk for Dementia 2024

The experiences, insights gleaned, and connections made among WTD participants have the potential to influence global dementia policy and advocacy. The primary pathways for influence are through an increased awareness of the experiences of people living with dementia and their care partners, reductions in dementia stigma, and cross-national collaborations among new partners. Efforts to influence the design and development of dementia-related policy must include people living with dementia and care partners. This approach can influence national plans for dementia and specific policy areas such as the financing of care and support, funding of dementia research, explicit recognition and support of care partners, and public health awareness campaigns to address stigma and dementia risk reduction, reflecting and valuing the voices of people with lived experience of dementia.