I Can! I Will!

I CAN! I WILL! is a website contains ideas to help people around the world stand up and speak out about Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders.

The project was spearheaded by Richard Taylor, PhD, (USA - www.richardtaylorphd.com) a person living with dementia, who presented the idea to a working group comprised of people with dementia, care partners, Alzheimer’s Disease International staff and other interested parties at the annual Alzheimer’s Disease International Conference, held in Toronto in March 2011.

The goal of the project is to collect hundreds of ideas pertaining to:

• How people both with and without dementia can raise awareness of the disease in their families, neighbourhoods, communities and countries,
• How people with dementia can stand up and speak out about what it is like to live with the symptoms of dementia,
• How people with dementia and care partners have learned to live with the disease on a daily basis and improved their quality of life,
• How others who do not directly live with the symptoms involve people who do in activities that will open up lines of communication between these two groups of people.

By reading the ideas posted on the website and contributing their own ideas, people with dementia, care partners, professional carers, medical professionals, Alzheimer’s society/association members and others will say 'I CAN!' and 'I WILL!' to adopting an idea in their own lives, families and communities. Together we can spread awareness of what it is like to live with dementia, address the myths and stigma that accompany the diagnosis of dementia, and encourage, enable and support people living with dementia to be more open with others about their disability.

Laura Bowley (Canada - http://mindsetmemory.com) and Richard Taylor have partnered to create the initial design for the website, solicit entries from people around the world, edit contributions and manage the website.