A new Charter of Rights for people with dementia and their carers has been launched at the Scottish Parliament today.

People with dementia and their carers (family members and friends) have the same human rights as everyone else.  However, it is widely recognised that in addition to the impact of the illness they face cultural, social and economic barriers to fulfilling their rights. The Charter aims to empower people with dementia, those who support them and the community as a whole to ensure their rights are recognised and respected.

Read the Charter in PDF format online

Irene Oldfather MSP, convener of the Cross Party Group on Alzheimer’s, said: “The publication of a Charter of Rights for people with dementia and their carers is long overdue. In recent years numerous reports have demonstrated that levels of care for people with dementia are simply not at a high enough standard.

This Charter should be used both as an empowering tool for service users, and also serve as a framework for care homes, hospitals and other organisations when developing services for people with dementia.

“Publishing the Charter is not the end of a process, but rather a beginning. We want the Scottish Government to put the Charter at the heart of the dementia strategy and send a vital message that all of Scotland wants to bring about culture change about how dementia is perceived, and ensure that there are high quality levels of care and support, from diagnosis through to end of life. “

Dementia affects around 69,000 people in Scotland, a figure which is predicted to rise significantly in the coming years. Alzheimer’s disease is the main form of dementia (60% of cases). The second most common is vascular dementia (17%). As yet there is no cure.

Duncan Wilson, Head of Strategy and Legal at the Scottish Human Rights Commission, said: “This Charter brings some long overdue focus on empowering people with dementia to understand and claim their rights, and will help to increas

e the ability - and accountability - of those responsible for caring for vulnerable adults. The Commission welcomes the efforts of the Cross-Party Group to reflect international human rights standards in their work. Looking ahead, we hope that a wide range of public and private bodies will be encouraged to make human rights part of their day to day work with older people.”

Henry Simmons, Chief Executive of Alzheimer Scotland, said: “For too long the rights of people with dementia and their carers have been in the shadows. Although they have the same rights as everyone else in Scotland, people with dementia have become disadvantaged, disenfranchised and disowened. We call on as many people as possible to sign up in support of this Charter, which we want to act as both a charter mark for service providers and a key influence on the National Dementia Strategy that’s currently in development.”

If you need help or advice with dementia you can contact the 24 hour national freephone Dementia Helpline on 0808 808 3000. There is information about dementia and available support services at the website for Alzheimer Scotland, www.alzscot.org. You can also read more about the work of the Cross Party Group on Alzheimer’s online.