Ahead of Dementia Awareness Week, which also takes place next week (Monday 2 June 2025 – Sunday 8 June 2025), Scottish Government and COSLA are highlighting their Rethink Dementia toolkit and assets to help raise awareness and support people living with dementia.

This year’s Dementia Awareness Week theme, “Every Step”, aligns with the Rethink Dementia campaign message, focusing on the importance of friendship, emotional connections and social interactions in lives of people with dementia and their care partners.

The Rethink Dementia Stakeholder Toolkit (linked for your convenience) includes information, a range of assets, stories and key messages. There is also a Rethink Dementia TV ad, available to watch via YouTube.

About the Rethink Dementia Campaign

Rethink Dementia, created in collaboration with the National Dementia Lived Experience Panel, was developed in response to insight, which shows that social contact can help alleviate symptoms commonly associated with dementia and help improve overall wellbeing.

The campaign targets Scots aged 30 – 60 years old to help raise awareness of what they can do when someone known to them has been diagnosed with dementia. Research from Scottish Government and COSLA identified this audience are more likely to think this campaign is relevant to them as they know someone, or their friends know someone with a diagnosis. However, they stress that this campaign is relevant to everyone – younger or older.

Rethink Dementia encourages audiences to focus on the person, not the condition, with the campaign creative being centred around treating people with dementia exactly as they did before the diagnosis – highlighting the simple ways people can help their family and friends who have been diagnosed to stay connected.

Further Information

Whilst the main call to action is for people to engage with these key campaign behaviours, the campaign also directs people to NHS Inform for further information and advice on support.

For further information, or to discuss ways to support the campaign, contact:

Scottish Government’s marketing team, by email: SGMarketing@gov.scot
Stripe Communications’ dedicated Rethink Dementia campaign team, by email: sgdementia@stripecommunications.com