Ms Clodagh Whelan:

It links with dementia-inclusive communities work. We have a programme called friends of ASI. We do our own community engagement and dementia-inclusive communities work. Deputy Tully mentioned the one in Cavan. There is also the Dementia - Understand Together campaign, in which we are a partner. We spoke about the trajectory of the disease. If you are a golfer who gets dementia, there is a point at which your local golf club needs to be dementia-inclusive. You do not want to go to the special golf club for people living with dementia, you want to live your life in a normal way, go to your golf club and hope the people there can welcome you. As your condition progresses, there may be a point at which that is a bit tricky and you would hopefully then transfer to the dementia-specific activity, which may support you to do your hobbies and interests and, for example, take you to play golf with just one person. As the condition progresses, you may stop playing golf and perhaps talk to someone about playing golf, watch it on television or read a magazine. Dementia-inclusive work and tackling that stigma are important, particularly for people with younger-onset dementia. We spoke about loneliness with people living with dementia in 2018. Our research found that they had an awful lot of internalised stigma. Our research just last year found the same. They want to be out in a community that accepts them. Sometimes, they are fearful of saying, "I have dementia" because they are worried about people's reactions.