‘A diagnosis does not replace the person.’ Fernando Aguzzoli-Peres has noticed hundreds of people carry that sentence with them, some for years. As Executive Director of Walking the Talk for Dementia (WTD), he spends his time doing something not all health systems make space for: listening.
Every year, WTD brings together 85 people from over 30 countries – researchers, clinicians, policymakers, people living with dementia and care partners for an unconventional experience. They cover 40 km of the Camino de Santiago together before sitting down for a two-day symposium. By the end, something has shifted. Scientists who have spent careers studying dementia in the abstract are now walking next to someone living it.
