We have the right not to remain silent. Harnessing law as a tool for equity
Law can be a powerful tool for advancing equity across a number of domains
The Spark
More than 80% of people living with dementia or neurodegenerative disorders (NDD) depend on a non-professional care partner or family member for support and care.
Even before COVID-19, more than 90% of NDD care partners experienced a significant burden and higher levels of loneliness and social isolation compared to non-carers. Given that data is essential to eliciting action from governments, care agencies and the community, this group of Fellows investigated the significant secondary impacts of COVID-19 physical distancing on the mental well-being and care burden on care-givers, many of whom are older and physically vulnerable themselves.
"COVID-19 tremendously impacts dementia care, specifically carers’ mental health and burden. The Atlantic Institute funds contributed to understanding the carers’ burden globally, and facilitated the collaboration among Atlantic Fellows from different countries."
Yaohua Chen, Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health
For more than six months, the Fellows brainstormed virtually to draft their blueprint, ahead of sharing it with other Fellows also working to disseminate access to legal advocacy resources. In November 2019, the four Fellows then convened for the Rights Literacy learning and connection workshop at the University of California - Hastings College of Law and UC San Francisco. There, they worked together on a concrete blueprint for building rights engagement within and outside of the Atlantic Fellows community.
The Initiatives
Connection and collaboration to brainstorm solutions. Workshop with human rights and civil justice experts at UC Hastings College of Law. Analyzing and expanding on the group’s initial outcomes. Which included a logic model and strategic outreach plan. The group determined that engaging additional Fellows was an important next step in addition to creating a roadmap for a network of Fellows to access and distribute legal resources.
The Scale
After this intensive and iterative process, the group reached a design for a roadmap: a community of Atlantic Fellows equipped to accelerate and scale rights engagement globally. Their goal: to empower individuals and communities to address the many urgent crises of our time.
The Future
The group’s next objective is to identify additional Fellows who are inclined to this area of work followed by a needs assessment to determine the kind of outputs this project might produce to support the wider Atlantic Fellows community.
Media Mentions
The Initiative will continue to work collaboratively to implement better brain health services to underserved populations by promoting information and expertise-sharing within and between participating countries.