Every year on 21 September, World Alzheimer’s Day brings global attention to Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. It’s a time to raise awareness, fight stigma, and highlight the ongoing need for research and support for people living with dementia and their families and carers.
Alzheimer Scotland is proud to lead this effort in Scotland. We focus on supporting those who are living with dementia now, and we also promote prevention strategies to optimise brain health throughout life. Our charity is named after Alois Alzheimer, the pioneering neuropathologist who first identified Alzheimer’s as a brain disease.
In the early 20th Century, Alois Alzheimer conducted extensive research on the diseases of the nervous system and the brain. Whilst working at a Munich Hospital in 1901, he met a patient named Auguste Deter who was showing symptoms that defied medical understanding at the time. He undertook a long-term study of Auguste, monitoring her symptoms and the progression and course of her illness. He documented its development and, following her death several years later, investigated the results of the autopsy and reported on “the severe disease process of the cerebral cortex”. The intensive clinical examination of this patient was the starting point of a development that made Alois Alzheimer’s name famous.
Nowadays, Alois Alzheimer is remembered for his remarkable legacies in the field of modern neuropathy and the identification of a condition that we now know as Alzheimer’s disease. In tribute to him, Alzheimer Scotland carries no apostrophe because we honour the man himself, the man whose research changed how the world understands this disease.
In recognition of his extraordinary work, Alzheimer Scotland’s mission is to support people who are living with all types of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease. We also want to raise awareness that by maintaining brain health throughout life, we can build the foundations for our overall health, and potentially reduce the risk of developing dementia.
To acknowledge the incredible impact Alois Alzheimer made, we have developed a model of support in his name. This ethos of this model is reflected in everything we do
Advice: our expert advisors can offer one-to-one help with anything from building cognitive resilience, to managing money matters and legal issues
Listening: we offer places and spaces for you to be heard, whatever your question or concern, whenever you need to talk
Opportunities: to connect, learn and share with others in a similar situation
Information: on all stages of the brain health journey, whether you are worried about your brain health, or living and caring well with dementia. You can join one of our courses, activity programmes or peer groups at a time that suits you
Safety and Support: everyone is welcome in our Centres, where you and your loved ones can feel safe and supported with trusted staff who understand what you’re going through
Whether you are living with dementia, are a carer, or you want to find out more about protecting your brain health - we are here to help. Our 24 hour Freephone Dementia Helpline offers emotional support and signposting and our National Dementia Advisor Service provides high quality information, advice and advocacy service relating to all aspects of brain health and dementia, We have friendly and accessible Dementia Resource Centres across Scotland that you can drop into to access information and support.