Tom Kitwood Memorial Address: Looking Back Without Nostalgia, Looking Forward Without False Optimism
As UK Dementia Congress marks its 20th anniversary, the 2026 Tom Kitwood Memorial Address will bring together leading voices from across dementia care to reflect on the progress, challenges and future direction of the sector.
Chaired by Professor Graham Stokes, Honorary Visiting Professor of Person-Centred Dementia Care at the University of Bradford, the session will explore dementia care through three interconnected perspectives: the past, the present and the future.
Professor Dawn Brooker will look back on two decades of change, examining the enduring influence of Tom Kitwood’s groundbreaking vision of person-centred care. Her reflections will explore how far the sector has come, which ambitions have been realised and what challenges continue to persist.
Focusing on the present, Paul Edwards, Chief Nursing Officer at Dementia UK, will consider the realities of dementia care and support today. Drawing on lived experience, he will highlight how services are experienced by people living with dementia and those who care for them.
Looking ahead, Professor Jeremy Isaacs, National Clinical Director for Dementia and Older People’s Mental Health at NHS England, will explore the opportunities, risks and priorities likely to shape dementia care over the next twenty years.
Together, the speakers will consider what the dementia community can learn from its past, how it can confront the realities of the present with honesty, and how it can look to the future with ambition grounded in realism. In doing so, they will honour Kitwood’s legacy while challenging the sector to define what meaningful progress should look like in the decades ahead.
