AFAGA Milestones

The Asociación de Familiares de enfermos de Alzheimer e outras demencias de Galicia (AFAGA was born in 1994 as a result of the concern of a group of relatives wanting to know more about this disease due to the lack of information at that time. AFAGA was the first Galician association of relatives of people with dementia.

Delivery of personal care and care at home for people affected by some type of neurodegenerative dementia and their social space by technical and nursing staff with specific training in this field.

The participants in previous therapeutic meetings become MAGs with the support of professional monitoring. They meet quarterly with their professional of reference and take part in leisure and free time activities organised by themselves.

Together with AFACO, AFAPO and AFAOR, AFAGA created the Federation of Galician Associations of Relatives of People with Alzheimer's and Other Dementias (FAGAL).

The first Cognitive Stimulation groups started to operate, with activities designed for maintaining the skills, knowledge and behaviour still active in people with Alzheimer's and other dementias.

First edition of the Xornadas Profesionais (Professional Workshop) in which experts several areas related to dementias discuss and share the latest advances and discoveries.

AFAGA is declared a Public Utility Entity by the Spanish Government for meeting a series of standars in terms of its composition, aims and objectives, declared to be of general interest.

AFAGA has been managing the day centre specialising in Alzheimer's and other dementias since 2008. This centre is run by means of an agreement with the Xunta de Galicia and has 40 places for elderly people with dementia of the Alzheimer's type.

AFAGA manages the Porriño Day Care Unit.

This centre was established via an agreement with the Xunta de Galicia and has 24 places for elderly people with Alzheimer's dementia. It is a pilot project in the Community as a publicly owned  stay-down facility.

AFAGA held the presidency of the Federation of Galician Associations of Relatives of People with Alzheimer's and Other Dementias from 2008 to 2020.

AFAGA launches the in-home physical therapy service. Home guidelines are set and different conditions of the user are assessed: muscle tone, risk of falls, difficulty in transfers, respiratory and vascular pathologies, pain, gait and movement disorders fundamentally.

AFAGA first headquartes were located in Marqués de Valladares and Oliva streets, but at the end of 2011, AFAGA opened the Comprehensive Care Centre for people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias. This is a centre owned by AFAGA and located in premises owned by the Vigo City Council.

In 2011, AFAGA joined CEAFA, the Spanish National Confederation of Associations of Relatives of People with  Alzheimer’s.

AFAGA was Vice-President of the said Confederation from 2011 to 2015.

The workshop 'Cultiva a Mente' includes the prevention of dementia and the promotion of healthy habits at a cognitive and emotional level. It is a programme designed to exercise the mind, but also to socialise, to escape from the daily routine, to have fun and, in this way, to awaken new intellectual interests in the users.

AFAGA has one of the most validated cognitive stimulation software for people with dementia, the new GRADIOR Suite, created by the INTRAS Foundation. With this programme we can work in a completely personalised way, adapting the stimulation to the characteristics of people with dementia.

We started our blog 'Caregiver's Corner', with the intention of offering valuable information to caregivers and relatives of Alzheimer's patients and other dementias, from various aspects (psychological, legal, functional...).

We launch our platform as a training platform for professionals in the care of people with Alzheimer's and other dementias.

Start in Tui of cognitive and functional stimulation workshops for people affected by Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Cognitive and functional stimulation workshops at the Casa Reitoral de Mos.

AFAGA opens profile on Facebook and Twitter. 

First edition of the Short Story Competition 'In a Corner of Memory'

First edition of the charity gala 'Don't forget to laugh', in which various comedians make us spend a good evening while collaborating with a good cause. The funds raised will be used to set up new programmes aimed at people affected by Alzheimer's disease and their families.

Start in Salceda of cognitive and functional stimulation workshops, aimed at people suffering from Alzheimer's or other neurodegenerative diseases.

The "Baixo Miño" Alzheimer's care centre in Tui offers cognitive and functional stimulation workshops for all users.

This is the AFAGA Legal Advice Department, a service that was created with the main purpose of providing support in relevant legal aspects to relatives of people with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, as well as to the patient himself.

The title of "Distinguished Vigo Native" is an award that honours a person or a group of people who have stood out throughout their lives for their human virtues or their professional work. This title is also awarded to those entities, institutions or companies whose activity benefits the city or its inhabitants, either by the nature of their objectives or by the success or repercussion of their career.

Start in Nigrán of "cognitive and functional stimulation workshops" aimed at users diagnosed with Alzheimer's or other neurodegenerative diseases.

Start in Ponteareas of cognitive and functional stimulation workshops, aimed at people suffering from Alzheimer's or other neurodegenerative diseases.

From 2019 onwards, functional and cognitive stimulation workshops will be held in Redondela for users suffering from Alzheimer's or other neurodegenerative diseases.

The choir 'The Sounds of Memory' of AFAGA is born, by the Fundación Coral Casablanca. It is made up of AFAGA users and their carers and relatives, as well as professionals and volunteers from the association. Its aim is to stimulate the memory of people with dementia by performing songs that are part of their lives since, according to scientific studies, musical memory is one of the last to suffer deterioration.

AFAGA commits itself to research and begins its collaboration in the following projects:

• Biofamalz
• DigiMoCA
• Panoramix-Gatekeeper
• Celia
• Frida
• IN4AHA

In 2021 this service was launched as a response to the difficulties of the pandemic caused by the coronavirus, but in the spirit of permanence over time.

The beneficiary receives one hour a week of cognitive stimulation sessions programmed by a health psychologist and implemented by TCAE.

The Marín Therapeutic Day Centre, a project in collaboration with AFAPO, is aimed at people diagnosed with Alzheimer's or other neurodegenerative diseases.

In 2022 the transport service will start to facilitate access to the Martínez Garrido centre for those users who have more difficulties in getting to the centre.

From the year 2022 onwards, workshops on the prevention of cognitive impairment for people over 55 years of age will be held in Vilagarcía de Arousa.

In 2022, the Chair of Ageism was born, a pioneering initiative in Spain, under the initiative of the University of Vigo, AFAGA and ATENDO. This chair is driven by the objective of contributing to the transformation of the way of thinking, feeling and acting in the face of ageing.

As part of the events on World Alzheimer's Day, the Memory Square, located in front of the AFAGA headquarters, was inaugurated.