Annual General Meeting March 2007
Chairperson ReportWelcome to this first Annual General Meeting of the Malta Dementia Society! A big thanks to all of you for attending this event and for your continuous encouragement and support. In this report, I shall be presenting an account of the growth of our association, giving particular focus to the international aspects. The Malta Dementia Society was established on the 22nd September 2004 and is now two and a half years old. Mark Xuereb was instrumental to the founding of the association and organising the initial meeting, following which was the setting up of a temporary working committee. At the time, the committee included myself, Charles Scerri, Martin Ward, Anne Cuschieri, Patricia Tabone, Janet Spiteri Staines, Fr. Victor Zammit McKeon, Mark Xuereb, and Adrian Sultana. A special thanks goes for all the hard work in the setting up of the initial society operational structure, especially in drafting the statute, developing the logo, setting up bank accounts, registering with the finances and inland revenue departments and setting up a website. This initial phase was very important so as to establish our aims and to gain the credibility of the public. An important aspect in the growth of the Malta Dementia Society is networking with local and international organizations. This ensures that we are following the right tracks and gives us the opportunity to tap available resources. There are two important international organizations for Alzheimer’s Associations, like ours. Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI) is the umbrella organisation of Alzheimer associations around the world. ADI helps establish and strengthen Alzheimer associations throughout the world, and raise global awareness about Alzheimer's disease and all other causes of dementia. We have been in contact with ADI right from the start, and we have received their support all along. The Malta Dementia Society has been elected as provisional member in September 2005, and then as a full member in September 2006. ADI have helped us especially with their programmes as follows: World Alzheimer's Day, 21 September each year, is a day on which Alzheimer associations concentrate their efforts on raising awareness about dementia. ADI co-ordinate WAD by selecting a theme each year and by supporting participating organisations. The Malta Dementia Society took part and organised events for WAD over the last two years. In 2005, a memory walk was organised in Valletta and this has helped to create awareness and attract local media attention. Last September, a marathon of three weekly events was organised: a seminar for healthcare professionals, a second memory walk and a fundraising car wash. ADI also organise the Alzheimer University training programme, a series of workshops designed to build organisational capacity by focusing on the fundamental issues of setting up and running an association. ADI have invited two committee members to attend for this programme in May 2006. An action plan was developed that is to be implemented over one year – our focus was to work on three areas: volunteering, fundraising and information provision. ADI organise a yearly conference that takes place in different countries every year. ADI have been sponsoring one member of the committee to attend for this conference, while others have attended through their own personal funding. For the last conference held in Berlin, ADI have also sponsored one Maltese person with dementia to attend for the conference. Our other international affiliation is Alzheimer Europe, the membership organisation for European Alzheimer Associations. This organisation represents the interests of people with dementia, their families and their carers and acts as an interface to European institutions and the Council of Europe. Alzheimer Europe works to develop consensual policy statements on European issues of interest to people with dementia, their families and their carers. The Malta Dementia Society was accepted as full member of AE in July 2006. Alzheimer Europe organises regular surveys of home care and services across Europe. Our feedback to this organisation helps to see how Malta places along with the other European countries with regards to availability of services. A Dementia Year Book has been published in 2005 by Alzheimer Europe and it features two pages about laws and services in Malta. It is hoped that policy makers will react to these figures by improving services and allocating more resources. With regards to local networking, over the last year we have been working closely with Forum Malta in Europe. The forum, through its Civil Society Fund has supported attending an Alzheimer Europe board meeting as part of the process of membership and to pay membership dues for last year. Since then the Malta Dementia Society has become a member of the Subcommittee on Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumers. Over these two years, there have been a change of members on the committee, since it is often very difficult for care-givers to commit themselves for long periods. We understand that caring of their loved ones takes first priority, and therefore we see this rotation as an acceptable compromise. Over the last year, the committee has been composed of myself, Charles Scerri, Martin Ward, Fr. Victor Zammit McKeon, Mark Xuereb, and two family caregivers were co-opted Cynthia Busuttil and Isabelle Avallone. This last year we have concentrated on caregiver education and for this reason we have organised repeat talks & video presentations. Other activities marked the centenary from the description of Alzheimer’s Disease such as the Public Talk by Dr. Carmelo Aquilina, and the September Activities. We have worked on submitting proposals for funding and we were successful in getting Lm 500 from Voices (to purchase automatic pill boxes for people with dementia who are having difficulties in taking their medications. A proposal for a national dementia helpline has been accepted by the iStrina 2006 and we will be getting 1.5 % of the total amount of donations from this charity at the end of this year. In conclusion, we can certainly state that the society has made great leaps in such a short period of time and we have managed to build strong foundations. As the society grows, we now need work together to continue improving the lives of people with dementia and their caregivers. Dr. Stephen Abela Chairperson |
Secretary ReportThe following is a historical account of Malta Dementia Society activities over the last two and a half years. September 2004: Launch of the Malta Dementia Society on WAD (Dr Mark Xuereb).
October 2004: Applied for grant with NGO Project Selection Committee at the Ministry of Social Policy (Decision: June 2005 – not eligible for funding as MDS did not fall within the selection criteria). November 2004: First Committee meeting
January 2005: Launch and endorsement of MDS statute. March 2005: Adoption of MDS Logo
April 2005: Applied for funding – SISA Malta
June 2005: Opened MDS Bank Accounts with HSBC. July 2005: Public talk ‘What is Dementia?’ by Dr Carmelo Aquilina
September 2005: World Alzheimer Day (ADI). Memory Walk in Valletta. Articles in printed press. Participation in radio and TV programmes Printing of MDS membership leaflets Printing of MDS Banner Applied for Funding – Istrina 2005. October 2005: Involved in the initial consultation process regarding the White paper ‘Strengthening the Voluntary Sector’ Presented the proposal ‘Setting up of a Day Care Centre for People with Dementia’ to Hon. Ms. Helen D’Amato, Parliamentary Secretary for the Elderly and Community Care. November 2005: Chosen as one of the beneficiaries of Istrina 2005. December 2005: MDS Christmas Cards. January 2006: Applied for funding – Voices 2006. February 2006: Received photocopier as a donation from Istrina 2005. March 2006: Video presentations on care giving including a talk on the stress of care-giving by Ms Roberta Zahra de Domenico, Clinical Psychologist Skills training course in person-centred dementia care at St. Vincent de Paul residence. April 2006: Talk on Clinicopathological Correlates in Dementia by Dr John Henry Xuereb, Medical School Applied for funding – Civil Society Fund. May 2006: Alzheimer’s University (ADI) – London, UK (improving and strengthening dementia organisations). June 2006: Launch of the Volunteering programme. July 2006: Talk: ‘100 years of Alzheimer’s Disease’ by Dr Carmelo Aquilina, Medical School Received a donation by SISA Malta (Lm162.11). August 2006: Applied for full membership with ADI. September 2006: Participated in a European survey (AE) on anti-dementia drugs as part of the AE ‘Dementia in Europe Yearbook 2006’ World Alzheimer Day (ADI) - Memory Walk in Valletta (also attended by Hon. Helen D’Amato). Car Wash and sale of plants (Zammit Clapp Hospital). Seminar ‘A Positive Approach to Dementia Care’ – IHC Meeting with MEPs. Various articles in the local printed press. Participation in radio and TV programmes Approval of Civil Society Funds (Lm250) Applied to Istrina 2006 – Helpline. October 2006: Applied for ADI Twinning programme Accepted as full members in AE Membership fees – AE (500 Euros/year). November 2006: Care-giver talks Donation – Istrina 2005 (Lm1732.88). December 2006: Christmas Party Christmas Cards 2006 Accepted as beneficiaries for Istrina 2006. Others:
Future:
Thanks to those who, in one way or another, contributed to the success of the Malta Dementia Society. Charles Scerri Secretary General |
Archive:
| [ 2004 ] | [ 2005 ] | [ 2006 ] | [ 2007 ] |
[ HOME ][ AIMS ][ WHAT IS DEMENTIA ][ MEMBERSHIP ][ EVENTS ][ VOLUNTEERING ][ NEWS ][ CONTACT US ][ LINKS ]