The Global Dementia Observatory (GDO)
Knowledge Exchange Platform
Epidemiology of cognitive disorders in the elderly population of Greece
Understanding the epidemiology of cognitive disorders in a population is the first step towards establishing coherent and cost-effective prevention and management strategies. The Hellenic Epidemiological Longitudinal Investigation of Aging and Diet (HELIAD) is an ongoing prospective cohort of 1984 individuals ≥65 years old randomly selected from an urban and a suburban region in Greece. Epidemiological indices for cognitive disorders in the elderly population of Greece are generally consistent with published data for Europe and North America.
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Developing Dementia-Friendly hospitals in Denmark
People with dementia admitted to hospital care are at greater risk of complications. Several studies have shown increased morbidity, mortality and functional decline during hospitalization in patients with dementia. With the aim of developing concepts for dementia-friendly hospital care in a Danish setting, we refined and tested a range of interventions within a two-year period.
DELIGHT (Dementia Lifestyle Interventions for Growing Healthy Together) Project
Persons living with dementia and family care partners want to improve their health, maintain independence, and enhance well-being. Habilitation strategies towards this goal are needed. The purpose of the DELIGHT project was to co-design a feasible, effective multi-domain program (the DELIGHT program) to meet the health and well-being goals of persons living with dementia and their family/friend care partners.
Klaipėda Region Alzheimer's disease club ATMENA (Lithuania)
ATMENA aims to support people living with dementia, their carers in their daily lives, to help them to live healthier and full of potential lives as long as possible.
Carer schools in Norway: information and training measures for relatives and carers of people living with dementia
The Norwegian Dementia plan aims to promote the development of good, flexible and tailored municipal health and care services with focus on prevention, timely diagnosis, post-diagnostic follow-up, daily activity, housing and education. People with dementia and their families need information about dementia, support, and access to arenas where they can meet others in the same situation.
Local Dementia Centers (LDCs) in the Republic of Korea
Working towards universal health and social care coverage for dementia is a powerful mechanism for achieving the well-being of people with dementia. In 2017, President Moon Jae-in announced strong policy commitment, “The National Dementia Initiative” to relieve the burden of patients with dementia (PWD) and their caregivers.
PAHO “Let’s Talk About Dementia” Campaign
In honor of World Alzheimer’s Month (celebrated annually in September), and in recognition of the health burden that people with dementia face, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), in partnership with Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI), undertook a month-long regional dementia awareness and anti-stigma campaign initially planned for the month of September 2019. The Region of the Americas “Let’s Talk About Dementia” campaign aimed to get people talking more comfortably and openly about Alzheimer’s disease and dementia by encouraging often-difficult first conversations about dementia.
“Susitikime muziejuje” dementia friendly arts programming in museums in Lithuania
NGO “Socialiniai meno projektai“ (SMP) is a pioneering arts for health organisation in Lithuania, aiming at promoting the well-being of various societal groups by making the arts more accessible. Our activities based on cross-sectorial partnerships include: arts projects (plays, exhibitions, performances and creative experiments), creative arts (participatory) workshop programmes, training and arts for health research and publishing.
"Operation Dementia": Training for police officers in Austria
One of the goals of the Austrian dementia strategy is to integrate people with dementia into our society and enable them to participate in public life. Police officers as a professional group in public places are strongly challenged here, as they are often the first point of contact for people with dementia and their families in crisis situations.
Bulgarian Society of Dementia and Patient organization “Living with dementia”
“Let’s Live Together” campaign during Alzheimer Disease days in Cinema House, Sofia (12-20 September 2018 and 1st October 2019) included screening of 4 feature and documentary movies for the general public. Attitudes and needs of attendees were explored. The need for more information about prevention and screening for mild cognitive impairment was shared.
Building Dementia-Friendly Communities (DFCs) In Singapore
To make Singapore a dementia-friendly nation, the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC), with the support of Ministry of Health (MOH), partners key community stakeholders, to set up Dementia-Friendly Communities (DFCs) in various neighbourhoods across Singapore.
Dementia-Inclusive Choices for Exercise Project
Exercise is key to maintaining functional abilities of persons living with dementia, with additional benefits to mental and social well-being. Current dementia-specific exercise programs are insufficient to meet the diverse needs of persons living with dementia. The overarching aim of the DICE project is to improve the number and quality of exercise opportunities accessible to persons living with dementia.
Innovative Digital Training Opportunities on Dementia for Direct Care Workers (Lithuania)
Dementia is emerging as one of the most common age-related diseases. The difficulty in being a caregiver of a person with dementia is that the person’s behaviors undermine all the basic, social, and interactional conduct. New technologies based on the use of ICT technologies are being considered to improve communication skills and reduce associated stress both for people with dementia and for caregivers
mhGAP Toolkit Launched
GLOBAL - The mhGAP Community Toolkit is now available for field testing. Sections include an informational guide for programme managers and a practical manual for anyone wishing to promote and address mental health in their community.
The French National Alzheimer database
Data on dementia and dementia care remain extremely limited and can hamper efforts to improve quality of care and outcomes. France is among the few countries which have developed a dedicated process to collect, store and share data on dementia.
Dementia Understand Together in Communities
Dementia: Understand Together (UT) is the second phase of a national awareness campaign running in Ireland to increase understanding of dementia among the general public. The programme is led by the Health Service Executive’s National Dementia Office, Health and Wellbeing and Communications teams, in partnership with the Alzheimer Society of Ireland and Age Friendly Cities and Counties.
Dementia Prevention, Treatment Care and Support – The Guyana Context
In looking at Dementia from the context of Guyana, our surveillance reports show, for 2017 that there is a prevalence 62 and incidence of 50; in 2018, the prevalence was 86 and the incidence was 45; in 2019, the prevalence was 89, with the incidence at 32.
Addressing dementia in the Czech Republic
In accordance with WHO recommendations embodied in the Global Dementia Action Plan 2017-2025, the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic initiated important systemic changes to strengthen dementia policy.
Estonia's Dementia Competence Centre
In 2018, the Ministry of Social Affairs, Estonia, along with its’ partners founded the Dementia Competence Centre (DCC). The DCC is a government-supported partnership between a nongovernmental organization, two healthcare and social care providers, and a tertiary education institution.
Promoting brain health in Finland
Finnish population is ageing, and the number of people suffering from memory disorders is increasing. Approximately 200,000 people have some form of cognitive decline and approximately 14,500 new cases of memory disorders are diagnosed each year. In order to meet the increasing demand for services and costs, we need action to promote brain health, to prevent memory disorders and to identify memory problems as early as possible.
Follow-up of dementia policy in Finland
More than 14,500 people in Finland are diagnosed with a dementing disease yearly. This figure includes estimates of the number of people over-65-year-olds and the working-age population who suffer from progressive memory disorders. Approximately 200,000 persons have some form of memory disorder.
Germany’s national strategy on dementia
Germany’s national strategy on dementia was developed between 2019 and 2020. It builds on precedent initiatives of the federal government such as the so-called "Alliance for people with dementia", on existing measures of the long-term care insurance and health insurance systems, as well as on activities of the federal states (Länder) and non-governmental organisations.
Memory Technology Resource Rooms in Ireland
The Memory Technology Resource Room (MTRR) network was formally launched in 2018 and includes twenty-five MTRRs operating across Ireland. These MTRRs showcase a wide range of Assistive Technologies (ATs), and provide assessment and guidance on how different types of low-tech and higher-tech equipment may be helpful in addressing the needs of people with dementia, their care partners and other family members.
The Flanders’ reference framework on dementia care
Quality of care and quality of life for people with dementia is a constant aim for care professionals, policy makers and a hot topic for researchers. Based on scientific research and together with many care facilities, volunteers, carers and people with dementia, the Flanders Centre of Expertise on Dementia studied the questions: what is quality of life, housing and care for people with dementia? Are the ideals we aim for really achievable? Which inspirational examples can we learn from? And how can good care take shape in daily practice?
Dementia Post-diagnostic Scheme in Ireland
There is an established and growing evidence base for Cognitive Stimulation Therapy, Cognitive Rehabilitation Therapy and, to a lesser extent, Psycho-education interventions to support people in the early stages of dementia. Through the Dementia Post-diagnostic Project, the National Dementia Office in Ireland commenced a grant scheme to support the delivery of these interventions across the country.
Initiatives Developed within the Context of COVID-19 to Address the Needs of People with Dementia and their Caregivers in Ireland
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and to support continued good practice around the care of people living with dementia, the National Dementia Office, in partnership with the Office of the Nursing, Midwifery Services Director in the Health Service Executive, developed a series of guidance documents for health care staff.
Dementia caregiver support in Malta
In response to the growing challenge that dementia is posing on the Maltese society at large, in 2015 Malta launched its first national dementia plan entitled Empowering Change: A National Strategy for Dementia in the Maltese Islands (2015-2023) with the objective of enhancing the quality of life of individuals with dementia, their caregivers and family members. Among the various interventions streams highlighted in the strategy document, community-based dementia management, care and support was considered a priority that needed urgent attention.
Spanish Dementia policy
The Neurodegenerative Diseases Strategy, promoted by the Ministry of Health (MH) in collaboration with the Health Regions (HR), scientific societies and patient organizations, was approved in 2016 to improve care quality, promote greater equity and cohesion within the National Health System.
Sweden, dementia and COVID-19
In Sweden, with a population of 10 million people, there are about 130-150,000 people with dementia , whereabout half of them live in special housing. The National Board of Health and Welfare, one of the government agencies under the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, is commissioned by the government to manage Sweden's dementia strategy. The first case of Covid 19 in Sweden was found the January 31st . The disease panorama follows the same development as in other countries - it is older people with several chronic diseases who have the greatest risk of being infected and die.
Strengthening capacites for dementia in Slovenia
Slovenia in 2016 adopted the Dementia Management Strategy in Slovenia until 2020. The strategy summarizes the essential elements and commitments contained in the documents adopted in EU, UN and WHO.
The Netherlands: people with dementia belong with us
Creating dementia-awareness, preventing stigma and treating people with dementia as worthy members of society is one of the core parts of dementia policy in The Netherlands. The Ministry of Health, Welfare & Sport started a national programme on dementia friendliness in May 2016, in close collaboration with Alzheimer Nederland and PGGM, a private enterprise.
The Memory Clinic at Kaunas Clinical Hospital (Lithuania)
The Department of Geriatrics of Lithuanian University of Health Sciences has been established in 1995 and since that leads the development of geriatric medicine in Lithuania. Cognitive impairment is one of the major health problems in older adults, thus the geriatricians addressing this problem started consultation services for those having memory complaints. Close partnership with the Norwegian Nasjonal kompetansetjeneste for aldring og helse and bilateral visits including joint projects enabled to apply the experience gained by foreign colleagues into clinical practice and expand services.
A library for All - The Dementia-friendly library Wiener Neustadt (Austria)
Public organizations need to provide good health information to support citizens and improve their health literacy when living with cognitive impairment. Libraries are educational facilities that provide information and offer space and possibilities to meet for people of all ages.
The French experience with Cognitive and Behavioral management Units (CBUs)
A CBU offers non-drug management of the crisis which occurs with Alzheimer’s disease and an individualized cognitive and behavioral rehabilitation program for an average of 41 days . These units belong to hospital wards and the team is composed by pluridisciplinary professionals. The architecture is adapted for the type of care these patients need.
Dementia Action Plan for Wales 2018-2022
In 2018, Welsh Government published the Dementia Action Plan for Wales 2018-2022 , the plan sets out our vision for Wales to be a dementia friendly nation that recognises the rights of people with dementia to feel valued and to live as independently as possible in their communities.
Dementia Friendly Spots network in Slovenia
As a response to detected real needs of persons with dementia living at home, in 2016 Spominčica - Alzheimer Slovenija (www.spomincica.si) started developing education programme for employees in organizations providing services accessible to public. The first Dementia Friendly Spot (DFS) was opened in July 2017 at the Human Rights Ombudsman office after the employees training. The opening was covered by national media.