Our Mission
By uniting a coalition of multidisciplinary stakeholders from patient advocacy, professional societies, industry, and policymakers, the Initiative to Change the “D-Word,” a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, seeks to eliminate “dementia/demented” to reduce stigma, increase early detection and treatment, and increase accuracy around cognitive impairment.
Our Vision
We envision a world in which:
The language we use to talk about cognitive impairment is non-stigmatizing, specific, and patient-centered.
People with cognitive impairment are able to seek early detection and care with acceptance and without stigmatization.
“Dementia” (and the associated term “demented”) is never an acceptable word to use to describe people or study cohorts – and is recognized as an inaccurate, outdated, and stigmatizing word consigned to the history books.