BLOG – INTERDEM and Alzheimer Europe visit cabinet EU commissioner Andriukaitis

Dementia is getting a more prominent place on the European research agenda, but research into care for persons with dementia still requires advocacy. Therefore a delegation of Alzheimer Europe (Heike  von Luetzau-Hohlbein , Jean Georges) and INTERDEM (Myrra Vernooij-Dassen, Frans Verhey) visited the cabinet of EU commissioner  Andriukaitis,. Unexpectedly, and unfortunately, he had to decline due to illness, and was replaced by Mrs Paula Duarte-Gaspar, of the same cabinet.

Mrs Duarte was very responsive to the message of psychosocial interventions being able to significantly contribute to living well with dementia, We discussed the problems and requirements of implementing psychosocial interventions into daily practice. We indicated that INTERDEM is not only dedicated to research, but  that the INTERDEM’s academy aims to build future research capacity by educating young researchers in psychosocial research. Mrs Duarte was also impressed by the progress that Interdem had made so far, and by its products, e.g., the Maniphesto, the outcome papers, and the quality indicators.

We discussed the importance of The Glasgow declaration of Alzheimer Europe. This declaration reflects our research findings and conclusions. The European Union invited us to be involved in discussions on future dementia care and research.  They  agree with the urgency of the topic and want to see improvement in dementia research on prevention, treatment and implementation of effective interventions.

It might be good that individual members sign the Glasgow declaration on the website of Alzheimer Europe. We also signed it as an organisation.

Myrra Vernooij-Dassen

Frans Verhey