Iva Holmerová shares some of her highlights as Chairperson of Alzheimer Europe

Iva Holmerová from the Czech Alzheimer’s Society was elected as Chairperson of Alzheimer Europe at the 2016 Annual General Meeting of the organisation in Copenhagen. Before that, she was a Vice-Chairperson (2010–2016) and member of the Alzheimer Europe Board (2008–2010). In this interview, she shares some of her highlights.

This year marks 30 years of Alzheimer Europe – what are your reflections on this anniversary?

I remember Alzheimer Europe from its early and modest beginnings and it is really great to see how much we have achieved.

This has been a great collaborative effort, which would not have been possible without the incredible efforts of our national member organisations and their representatives who contributed to our meetings, projects and activities over the last years. I was also incredibly lucky with my fellow Board members who supported me in my work and provided good governance, strategic advice and efficient monitoring of Alzheimer Europe’s activities and finances.

Last but not least, I want to single out the skilled and enthusiastic work of our staff in Luxembourg under the leadership and guidance of our Executive Director, Jean Georges.

The membership and activities of Alzheimer Europe have grown significantly during your time as a Board member and Chairperson of Alzheimer Europe. How did you deal with this growth and expansion in the Board?

To some extent, the Board has functioned in a very similar way over the past years. We meet four times a year and our meetings are combined with our European lunch debates, company round tables with our corporate sponsors and meetings with our national member organisations. These are intensive days, but it is a great way of combining and concentrating our efforts.

I have tried to follow the example of my predecessors Heike von Lützau-Hohlbein from Germany and Maurice O’Connell who had both been able to promote very open exchanges between Board members where everyone’s voice is included and heard. I really enjoy the very friendly, constructive and fair collaboration in the Board and with all member organisations.

With the creation of our European Working Group of People with Dementia, we now have the chairperson of the group attending as a full member. We have had great representatives with Helga Rohra from Germany and Helen Rochford-Brennan from Ireland making sure that we properly represent and include people with dementia in all our efforts and projects.

According to you, what have been the most important areas of work in which Alzheimer Europe has been involved?

It is not possible to mention all of them. I think that it is very important that we are able to meet with all our member organisations several times during the year to exchange our experiences and support each other. It is incredibly rewarding to chair these meetings and to see how generously member organisations are sharing their great innovative projects with others. These meetings

Former Chairperson Heike von Lützau-Hohlbein and current Chairperson, Iva Holmerová

are incredibly enriching and participants leave with new ideas for their own organisations and countries. As a representative from the Czech Republic, I am particularly proud of how Alzheimer Europe has managed to involve representatives of our member organisations from Central and Eastern Europe. Finally, people with dementia play a very important role in our organisation and I feel that Alzheimer Europe can be a model for other organisations on how to conduct and promote patient and public involvement activities.

What do you see as the future priorities for Alzheimer Europe?

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed how Alzheimer Europe and our national member organisations function, meet and exchange information. Thankfully, it has also contributed to a growing recognition of European policy makers that public health and prevention need to feature more prominently on the European agenda.

Together with our members, we need to continue in our efforts to make sure dementia is not forgotten as a priority in Europe or in our respective countries. I look forward to my continued involvement in Alzheimer Europe to help respond to arising challenges and support our member organisations.