POLICY WATCH
Alzheimer Europe hosts online meeting of Government Experts on Dementia In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, Alzheimer Europe moved all of its scheduled summer meetings to an online platform. This included the meeting of the European Group of Government Experts on Dementia, which discussed issues including national dementia policy developments, as well as national and international work underway to address the COVID-19 pandemic. In this article, we examine some of the key themes discussed during the course of the meeting. On 4 June, Alzheimer Europe hosted an online meeting of the European Group of Governmental Experts on Dementia comprised of policy leads in charge of dementia policies from national health ministries. The meeting was attended by 44 people, including representatives of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Latvia, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom (Department of Health and Social Care and Scottish Government). Representatives from the European Commission (DG RTD and DG SANTE) and the World Health Organization (WHO) also attended. The meeting was split into two main sections, with the first one focusing on relevant European and national developments with regard to dementia strategies and policies, and the second dedicated to an exchange on initiatives and good practices to support people with dementia and their carers during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the presentations and discussion in the first section, the group heard that: y Germany was in the course of preparing and finalising its first National Dementia
24 Dementia in Europe
health systems, data analytics to inform decision making, digital technologies to support public health measures and responsive communication with populations. The WHO also emphasised the need for a balance in exit strategies between infection control, economic considerations and the human rights and personhood of older people and people with dementia, particularly as these groups would likely be the last for whom measures are lifted. An update on the work of the WHO in relation to its Global Action Plan on Dementia can be found on pages 25–26.
This was followed by short presentations on lockdown exit strategies by health ministry officials from Austria, Finland, Ireland, Israel, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom (an article on European Strategy, which would be published later exit-strategies can be found on pages 27–28). in the summer (you can read our article Overall, participants reported that followon pages 18–19) ing a reduction in the reported number of y The Netherlands highlighted that their COVID-19 cases, countries were beginning to current strategy would conclude this year, ease lockdown measures. During the course with a new strategy due to be prepared of the presentations, a number of common and published next year experiences and challenges began to emerge, y France outlined some of the tentative including: findings from the evaluation of its neurodegenerative diseases strategy which y The gradual re-opening of in-person supconcluded in 2019, as well as some of the port services with additional infection potential next steps for dementia policy control measures (e.g. fewer people, social in the country distancing etc.) y The European Commission provided y The move of many services to online and an update on its proposed standalone digital formats to provide continuity of EU4Health programme and the Comsupport for people with dementia and mission activities on the impact of the carers, e.g. digital consultations, support COVID-19 pandemic on mental health groups etc. y Alzheimer Europe provided an overview y The challenges around lifting measures for of the estimated prevalence of dementia residential care facilities, including lifting in Europe based on its 2019 Dementia in restricted visiting rights for families and Europe Yearbook. carers with examples provided of outdoor visits, time-limited visits and dedicated In the second section dedicated to the visiting rooms COVID-19 pandemic, the WHO introduced the y The emergence, in some countries, of discussions by presenting the UN framework regional approaches to responding to the for the immediate socio-economic response virus which take into account different levto COVID-19 and the policy considerations els of government and regional differences developed by the WHO European region on in infection rates. strengthening and adjusting public health measures throughout the COVID-19 transi- The Group is expected to meet again in tion phases. It was noted that fundamental December 2020, which is likely to take place to the transition was good governance of online.
