In October and November, the Memorable project held two online co-creation sessions in Ireland with carers, cultural staff, programme managers and artists. Eight participants shared professional and lived experience to help shape a new dementia-inclusive online training programme.
Designed as participatory workshops, the sessions positioned participants as co-creators, reviewing draft modules and discussing how to make the training engaging, accessible and meaningful. Discussions strongly emphasised person-centred approaches, dignity, empathy and the importance of non-stigmatising language grounded in real human experience.
Carers’ perspectives were central, highlighting the value of lived experience, personalisation of cultural activities, and active involvement of carers and people living with dementia in programme design. Participants also encouraged looking beyond museums to include community spaces, outdoor and rural contexts, and realistic, low-cost adaptations of existing environments.
For the online platform, participants favoured flexible, bite-sized learning combined with reflective pathways, interactive but accessible tools, and evaluation methods focused on reflection and confidence rather than testing alone.
Overall, the sessions confirmed that dementia-inclusive training must be practical, person-centred and context-aware. These insights are now directly informing the refinement of the Memorable curriculum and platform.
