Participants on the MinD project Visit 2 to Luxembourg took a short trip to Brussels as part of their visit. Alzheimer Europe, the non-academic partner in Luxembourg, was hosting a two-day event in Brussels and invited other members of the consortium to attend.
On Tuesday 28 June, the MinD participants went to the lunchtime debate at the European Parliament, on the UN Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and how this relates to people living with dementia. The debate kicked off with an inspiring speech from Helen Rockford-Brennan on her experience of Alzheimer’s disease, followed by a summary of the legal aspects of the convention by Prof Jill Stapert from Edinburgh Napier University. Jonathan Stabenow from the European Commission finished with a talk on EU accessibility, noting that more accessibility benefits all EU citizens.
On Wednesday 29 June, Prof Kristina Niedderer presented on the MinD project to the attendees at Alzheimer Europe’s public affairs meeting, followed by a Q&A session. The team then heard more about the context and current policy in various countries represented by Alzheimer Europe.