About

Dementia Community is the new name for the organisation that:

  • Publishes the Journal of Dementia Care
  • Produces the UK Dementia Congress
  • Provides the National Dementia Care Awards

Dementia Community is a Charitable Community Benefit Society, a membership cooperative that aims to provide learning and networking opportunities for the dementia care community.

Community members own a £1 community share in Dementia Community.

By reading the Journal of Dementia Care, attending the UK Dementia Care Congress or the National Dementia Care Awards you will have already experienced our commitment to combining research with best practice, and valuing those who are passionate about improving the experience of dementia.

Whether you are working alone, a care provider, a commissioner, a researcher, a person living with dementia or a family carer our invitation to join our Dementia Community is warmly extended to you.

Membership benefits include a discounted subscription price for the Journal of Dementia Care (published bi-monthly), reduced delegate fees for the UK Dementia Congress and other events that Dementia Community will host. Plus a members’ newsletter, a discussion forum and many other opportunities for networking and involvement.

Our mission

Our core purpose is to connect and empower the dementia care community and our vision is of a world where all people in the dementia care community feel connected, informed, empowered and purposeful, and are actively engaged in co-producing changes that improve everyone’s experience of dementia, in care and in wider society.

Our values

Trust: steadfastly believing that everyone has potential and a unique personhood to be honoured and upheld. Confident that collectively and individually we can improve the experience of dementia care.

Inclusive community: embracing, supporting, valuing and sharing contributions from everyone committed to our common purpose.

Inspiration: igniting creativity, energy and new possibilities.

Quality: equipping the delivery of excellence in care and support for those affected by dementia.

Learning: encouraging, equipping, sharing and celebrating personal growth so that people enjoy their full potential and all our dementia care communities flourish.

Journal of Dementia Care

The Journal of Dementia Care is a bi-monthly multi-disciplinary digital publication combining research and best practice for care providers, commissioners, researchers, people living with dementia and family carers. Established more than 30 years ago, the Journal of Dementia Care is a highly valued specialist resource supporting learning, debate and development for all people involved in dementia care.

The journal is committed to improving the quality of care provided for people living with dementia by keeping readers abreast of developments in dementia care practice, training, research and technology, as well as showcasing good practice and the latest resources, events, news and views.

JDC is grounded firmly in practice with a strong emphasis on ‘knowledge translation’ which closes the gap between dementia care research and practice. JDC provides relevant, high-quality, well-researched articles with practical solutions for dementia care settings, written by practitioners, researchers and other experts in the field of dementia care – including care partners and people living with dementia – within the UK and internationally.

The JDC team 

Contact details for Editorial Team including editorial enquiries and article submissions 

Sue Benson (Editor): sue@dementiapublishing.community 

Beth Lang (Website Editor/Social Media Consultant): beth@dementiapublishing.community 

Isabella Barclay (Sales and Marketing Executive): isabella@dementiapublishing.community  

Contact details for General Manager including advertising and subscription enquiries 

General Manager: Melanie Blake: Tel: 0300 030 1028 (10am-1pm Monday – Friday). Please leave a message at all other times. 

Email: melanie@dementiapublishing.community 

Email (subs): subs@dementiapublishing.community 

Consultant Editors, Journal of Dementia Care

  • Professor Jill Manthorpe, Professor of Social Work, King’s College London
  • Dr Hazel Heath, independent nurse consultant: older people

Writing for JDC

Do you have a project or survey to report, or a change in practice organisation or structure which has worked well (or not), and would you like to share this experience with others? We welcome contributions of this kind, as well as bright ideas for improving the environment or well-being of people with dementia. Letters to the editor responding to articles in JDC – or contributing on other matters – are always welcome. We welcome contributions from those who have never written before as much as from experienced writers.

Copyright © Dementia Publishing 2023

ISSN 1351-8372

Publisher: The Journal of Dementia Care (JDC) is owned by

not-for-profit Dementia Publishing Community Benefit Society, trading as Dementia Community

Registered address: The Depozitory, 23 Nelson Street, Ryde, PO33 2EZ

Owned by Dementia Community

Dementia Community is a not-for-profit Community Benefit Society which publishes the UK’s leading publication and most extensive source of dementia care-focused information for all who work with people living with dementia – the Journal of Dementia Care (JDC). As the owners (and original founders of JDC) we are committed to providing you with all that is loved and valued at JDC, plus a lot more: the journal itself, this website which hosts our extensive archive of dementia care articles, dementia-focused newsletters and social media, and events including the UK’s largest annual event in our dementia care world, UK Dementia Congress, the National Dementia Care Awards, webinars and networking events.

Our purpose has always been to improve the care of people living with dementia and we have, over many years, built up a community of practitioners, researchers, family carers and people with dementia themselves – everyone who cares passionately about dementia care and the vital importance of supporting all who work in the field. This support is needed now more than ever, in the current climate of intense pressure on services and staff. In that spirit we believe a not-for-profit Community Benefit Society, whose purpose is to support a ‘community of interest’, independent and funded by social investment, makes it the ideal model for the dementia care family.

We hope that our friends old and new will join us in Dementia Community, to share in the important meeting of minds, refreshment and renewal which is so important and so needed.

Click to join our community, alternatively you can invest, donate or  subscribe.

Dementia Community Board

Jude Sweeting

Jude qualified as a general nurse and has worked to develop dementia care organisations for over 30 years. Being a Director of Dementia Publishing CBS, Ladder to the Moon CIC, Dementia Pathfinders CIC and Chair of Resonate Arts fuels her interest in collaborative leadership and creative approaches to problem solving.

Maria Parsons

Maria Pasiecznik Parsons is founder Chief Executive of Creative Dementia Arts Network. Maria has strived to improve the quality of life through her work with and for people living with dementia and their carers for over 25 years in roles such as direct practice as asocial worker, academic, researcher and trainer, director of university based dementia centre, dementia lead for a large care home provider and consultancy with statutory, voluntary and commercial organisations. She has presented conference papers nationally and international and written widely about the benefits of art for health and well-being especially for people living with dementia. She is currently co-editing Arts and Dementia: A Handbook of Good Practice for Jessica Kingsley Press. Maria sits on the Board of Frames of Mind, is active in Bristol U3A and is a Friend of the Ukrainian Institute in London.

Jane Ward

Jane began her working life as an engineer testing antenna for satellites. After 15 years in the industry eventually heading up the Test Equipment Services division, she left to fulfil a long-time ambition to travel, backpacking round the world for almost three years. On her return she completed a TEFL qualification and worked in China, S Korea and a stint volunteering in India before returning to the UK when she realised there were issues with her mother’s health. Her mother’s diagnosis of dementia led to her most recent career change. Following several years of full time caring whilst volunteering for a local dementia support group and the Alzheimer’s Society Research Network, on her mother’s death Jane also became involved with the local Dementia Friendly Communities pilot project in Hampshire, eventually founding the Charity Dementia Friendly Hampshire. Jane also volunteers with Dementia Adventure, continues her volunteering role with the Alzheimer’s Society Research Network, and is a Research Ambassador at her local hospitals in Portsmouth and Southampton, where her experience in the issues around dementia have proven very useful. Jane is part of the ALWAYS Group, the PPI arm of the IDEAL study at Exeter University looking at Living Well with Dementia and is Co-Applicant and PPI Chair of the EMBED-Care study at UCL/Kings College looking at End of Life Care in Dementia. She is co-applicant on several projects and a PPI member on several others.

Suzanne Mumford

Suzanne Mumford MSc, QN – Suzanne has been involved in the care of people with dementia for over 40years in a variety of training and management roles. Early in her nursing career Suzanne specialised in neurology and neurosurgery which sparked her curiosity in dementia, and so her journey began. Suzanne has had an extensive career in residential and domiciliary care, and is currently Head of Nursing, Care and Dementia for Care UK.  Suzanne’s experience includes caring for both her parents with dementia.

Barbara Stephens – Society Secretary and Founder Director

Barbara has been involved with organisations supporting people living with dementia and family carers for more than 30 years. She a founder of director of Dementia Publishing Community Benefit Society, CEO of Dementia Pathfinders CIC and part of a ‘Provider Collaborative’ delivering a community-based dementia support service in Sandwell, West Midlands. Barbara is actively involved in promoting ‘Meeting Centres’ in Hampshire, with Dementia Friendly Hampshire, and in developing a Community Arts venue in Ryde, Isle of Wight.

David Truswell

David Truswell B.Sc., M. Sc. (Econ.), MBA has worked in mental health services for over 40 years including the voluntary sector, Social Services, and the NHS at a senior level. He has written extensively on reducing inequalities in dementia care for Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.

Kate White

Kate White was initially a district nurse becoming a senior lecturer at The Southbank University. Subsequently she trained as a psychotherapist and with her partner, John Southgate, established The Bowlby Centre offering therapy and training based on principles of attachment, equality and inclusion. John was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2009 and lived in the community with family support until his death in 2021. Kate, now retired, volunteers at Camden Carers Centre and is involved in activism around justice and inclusion in relation to people living with dementia. She is coordinating Reimagining Dementia: A Creative Coalition for Justice, promoting co-creativity and change in the field of dementia in the UK. 

Advisory Group

  • Caroline Baker, Head of Dementia and Care Quality, Belong Ltd
  • Paola Barbarino, Alzheimer’s Disease International
  • Dr Shirley Evans, University of Worcester
  • Theresa Ellmers, University of Southampton
  • Dr Nori Graham, Alzheimer’s Society and Alzheimer’s Disease International
  • Karen Harrison-Dening, Dementia UK
  • Jo James, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
  • Kate Lee, Alzheimer’s Society
  • The Dementia Engagement and Empowerment Project – people living with dementia (with Rachael Litherland)
  • Maria Pasiecznik Parsons, Creative Dementia Arts Network
  • Lynne Phair, independent consultant nurse & expert witness
  • Professor Graham Stokes, HC-One
  • Professor Claire Surr, Leeds Beckett University
  • Jude Sweeting, Dementia Pathfinders
  • Dr Amanda Thompsell, South London and the Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
  • Rachel Thompson, Dementia UK
  • The 3 Nations Dementia Working Group – Alzheimer’s Society (with Nathan Bolton)
  • Lucy Whitman, former carer, writer, editor and trainer
  • Toby Williamson, independent consultant
  • Reinhard Guss, Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust
  • Hilary Woodhead, NAPA
  • Ruth Eley, Together in Dementia Everyday (tide)
  • David Truswell, Dementia Alliance for Culture and Ethnicity
  • Dr Nadia Wahid, Dementia Primary Care Clinical Lead, Birmingham
  • Karan Jutlla, University of Wolverhampton
  • Suzanne Mumford, Care UK
  • Jane Ward, Dementia Friendly Hampshire
  • Beth Britton, freelance consultant and former carer
  • Kate White, former care partner, activist, writer & researcher
  • Kellyn Lee, University of Southampton
  • Jan Oyebode, Young Dementia Network 
  • Kritika Samsi, Kings College London

Sponsors

Dementia Community is committed to working with a wide variety of organisations from the voluntary, statutory, private and commercial sectors and welcomes sponsors who wish to support one or more of the Journal’s multi-media  activities/services for mutual advantage.

Dementia Community Sponsorship Principles

Our ultimate commitment is to help create the best possible environments for everybody living with dementia and their carers. Our belief is that working with multi-skilled sponsors with similar goals will help and speed us to achieve the best possible outcomes.

We have developed some principles which are designed to clarify our relationship with sponsors:

  1. Any activity/service undertaken jointly will have the primary objective of improving the quality of life of people living with dementia and their carers.
  2. All joint activities/services will be good quality, providing value for money and making a significant and positive difference to recipients’ lives.
  3. All joint activities/services will respect and improve the quality of dementia care provided by professionals working with people living with dementia and their carers.
  4. We will ensure that JDC’s fundamental principle and objective to always put the wellbeing of people living with dementia and their carers first are never compromised by any sponsorship.
  5. We will encourage feedback on any joint activity/service and always be prepared to modify the activity/service as appropriate.
  6. We will use any income generated by a joint activity/service to fund the cooperative’s work.
  7. We will always celebrate together with our sponsors the positive achievements of our joint work to improve the quality of dementia care in the UK and internationally.

We welcome different types of sponsorship

We welcome sponsorships from organisations that share our vision and mission. We believe that by working together we can achieve more for our dementia community than if we each work alone. Together we can develop and implement creative approaches to the challenges we face.

Funds raised from sponsorship are critical to our ability to continuing offering the services we provide to the dementia community and we would like to warmly thank all the organisations who choose to work with us.

Broadly we welcome sponsorship from:

  1. Not-for-profit organisations including charities and statutory organisations, who would like to support a particular aspect of JDC’s multi-platform offering including the Journal, the website journalofdementiacare.co.uk, newsletters, social media and events particularly UK Dementia Congress and the National Dementia Care Awards – for which there would either be a financial exchange or other mutually advantageous exchange.
  2. Commercial and private organisations with beneficial products and services for the dementia community who would like to benefit from the multi-platform media we can offer including the Journal, the website journalofdementiacare.co.uk, newsletters, social media and events particularly UK Dementia Congress and the National Dementia Care Awards – for which there would be financial exchange.

Contact: We welcome all approaches from potential sponsors and would ask you to contact our Sales and Marketing Officer Isabella Barclay on isabella@dementiapublishing.community or Barbara Stephens on barbara@dementiapublishing.community or 07774 935905 .

Partners

Dementia Community is committed to working with a wide variety of organisations from the voluntary, statutory, private and commercial sectors to develop effective partnerships which work for everybody.

Dementia Community Partnership Principles

Our ultimate commitment is to help create the best possible caring environments for everybody living with dementia and their carers. Our belief is that working with multi-skilled partners with similar goals will help and speed us to achieve the best possible outcomes.

We have developed some principles which are designed to clarify our relationship with partners:

  1. Any activity/service undertaken jointly will have the primary objective of improving the quality of life of people living with dementia and their carers.
  2. All joint activities/services will be good quality, providing value for money and make a significant and positive difference to recipients’ lives.
  3. All joint activities/services will respect and improve the quality of dementia care provided by professionals working with people living with dementia and their carers.
  4. We will ensure that JDC’s fundamental principle and objective to always put the wellbeing of people living with dementia and their carers first are never compromised by any partnership.
  5. We will encourage feedback on any joint activity/service and always be prepared to modify the activity/service as appropriate. The partnerships will be informal in nature and any activities/service provided will not change or involve the governance of either JDC or our partners.
  6. We will use any income generated by a joint activity/service to fund the cooperative’s work.
  7. We will always celebrate together with our partners the positive achievements of our joint work to improve the quality of dementia care in the UK and internationally.
  8. If and when the partnership finishes it will take place on a defined date at which time each partner will return all shared assets such as logos and will undertake not to use such assets unless specific agreement for their further usage has been obtained.

We welcome different types of partnership

We welcome partnerships with organisations that share our vision and mission. We believe that by working together we can achieve more for our dementia community than if we each work alone. Together we can develop and implement creative approaches to the challenges we face.

Funds raised from partnership work are critical to our ability to continuing offering the services we provide to the dementia community and we would like to warmly thank all the organisations who choose to work with us.

Broadly we welcome partnerships with:

  1. Not-for-profit organisations including charities and statutory organisations, in which both JDC and our partner have benefits to offer each other and the partnership is usually established on the basis of no financial exchange.
  2. Commercial and private organisations with beneficial products and services for the dementia community who would like to benefit from the multi-platform media we can offer including the Journal, the website journalofdementiacare.co.uk, newsletters, social media and events particularly UK Dementia Congress  and the National Dementia Care Awards – for which there would be financial exchange.

Contact: We welcome all approaches from potential partners and would ask you to contact Barbara Stephens on barbara@dementiapublishing.community or 07774 935905.

Proud to be partners with:

Media Enquiries

Our Media Pack is available to download below

Media Pack

For all further enquiries please contact Issie at: isabella@dementiapublishing.community