A MOVE is afoot to bring individual Alzheimer’s and Dementia associations of the Caribbean into one regional organization.
The idea of one organization for the region emerged at last month’s meeting of 13 representatives of Alzheimer’s and Dementia organizations in the Caribbean at the Embassy Suites in Miami. The group expressed a desire to formalize the cooperation between them by forming one organization so as to develop a fruitful relationship with Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI).
Regina Posvar, President of the St. Lucia Alzheimer’s Association who attended the meeting said that the group arrived at a consensus that all non-profit charitable organizations which support or provide services to people with dementia and their family members in the Caribbean can apply to become members of the Caribbean Alzheimer’s Association when it is formed.
National Alzheimer’s organizations that are not members of ADI can also be members of the Caribbean Alzheimer’s Association.
The Caribbean Alzheimer’s organization will be structured as an Association and given a name that expresses how it was formed and, according to Posvar, the deadline for its official formalization is June of next year.
The aim of the association is to reach and provide services and support to people in the various islands with dementia and their families.
The stakeholders behind the move for a single Alzheimer’s and Dementia organization have yet to decide in which jurisdiction it will be permanently headquartered. They have agreed to hold discussions on issues dealing with the organization’s registration, funding and by-laws which will be soon drafted taking into consideration the jurisdiction where the organization will be established and registered.
Another consensus reached at the Miami meeting was for a 2016 – 2020 strategic plan for the organization. It was also agreed that research for a cure for Alzheimer’s was extremely necessary without subjecting individuals in the region to inhumane treatment or experiments which could be considered discriminatory.
It was further agreed that a baseline study must be done, particularly in the Caribbean, to have baseline data, to develop and implement dementia policies and dementia care services infrastructure.
The ADI has already proposed the appointment of a regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean. However, the 13-member group intends to seek clarification with ADI Executive Director for more details on that proposal, its validity and whether this would be meaningful to the region.
