
An international project designs an innovative and comprehensive approach to dementia care
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- dementia
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- Mireia Córcoles
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Parc Taulí participates in the development of the Dementia Ideal Care Map, a tool that, for the first time, visually integrates international best practices for the care of people living with dementia and the wide ecosystem of agents involved. This tool is aimed at professionals and researchers working in this field, as well as patients and family members
Dementias, including Alzheimer's disease, are recognized as a major global issue with high prevalence worldwide. With increasing life expectancy and exposure to cognitive risk factors, the rising prevalence of dementia has far-reaching consequences, significantly affecting not only people living with dementia between 5 and 20 years, but also their relatives, friends, carers, health workforce and society as a whole.
Despite extensive efforts by patient advocay groups, non-profits, researchers and institutions worldwide, best practices for dementia care have remained fragmented, focusing on individual aspects of care of the patient journey – such as diagnosis or care – or targeting only one specific group of stakeholders. In addition, coordination of care across different groups has been inconsistent, leading to discrepancies and gaps in dementia care.
An innovative and practical tool for dementia care
In order to address these challenges, an international group of researchers led by Wen Dombrowski, director of CATALAIZE (USA), has developed the “Dementia Ideal Care Map”, which has been designed to be one actionable tool to all relevant groups in the dementia ecosystem, in order to promote the public awareness and decrease stigma, develop policies, seek funding, conduct research, train staff, deliver services, increase access to resources and design technology..

The Dementia Ideal Care Map
The intended audience includes policymakers, public and private payers, researchers in academia and industry, businesses, technology developers, health system leaders, clinicians, social service workers, patient advocates, PLWD, their families, and communities at large.
Pedro Cano, researcher at the Parc Taulí Research and Innovation Institute (I3PT) and director of Innovation and Strategic Projects at Parc Taulí, has been one of the experts who have contributed to the development of this initiative. Cano emphasizes the importance of the tool: "This comprenhesive map will significantly streamline care practices and enhance the quality of life for people living with dementia and support networks”.
The researchers highlight that they have identified more than two hundred worldwide best practices and technological enablers, which have been included in 'The Map of Ideal Dementia Care', designed as a comprehensive and useful diagram that aims to become a practical tool to effectively plan and coordinate dementia care.
"I am particularly pleased to have been able to provide an innovative view of care and needs, beyond the strictly medical point of view. I think we give an excellent frame of reference for all stakeholders involved by being able to present the map as a journey for the person living with dementia and their family", explains Cano.
The findings of this initiative have been published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. As stated in the study, the authors “hope that current and future iterations of the tool will improve dementia care and quality of life by informing people living with dementia, their family and friends, the carers, clinicians" and other relevant profiles, "and inspiring them to work in collaboration".
Access to “The Dementia Ideal Care Map”
'The map of ideal dementia care'

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