The Croatian Ministry of Health has established a Working Group for the development of an Action Plan on dementia It is expected that the first proposal of this plan will be completed by the end of this year. This is the result, among other things, of the long-term efforts of Alzheimer Croatia in advocating for the need to create a National Plan for the Fight against Dementia in Croatia. The Working Group of the Ministry of Health includes, among others, representatives from the fields of public health policy development, science and health, social welfare and Alzheimer Croatia as representatives of people with dementia and their caregivers, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Labour, the pension system, family and of social policy, whose competences include, among other things, determining the standards for homes for the elderly, especially for their departments for people with dementia.
he starting point for the creation of the Action Plan, as the Working Group concluded during its first meeting held on 3 April 2023, will be the recommendations of the World Health Organization for the creation of the aforementioned plans, as well as the Proposal for the creation of a draft of the National Strategy for the Fight against Dementia in Croatia, in which Alzheimer Croatia detailed the real needs of people with dementia and their carers. They highlight, among other things, the need for psychosocial approaches to people with dementia, the classification of their disability rights, the education of all stakeholders in the care of people with dementia, the further development of counselling centres, support for their informal caregivers, the adoption of standards for adapting the environment and public services to the needs of people with dementia, as well as the de-stigmatisation of dementia, in which the Dementia Friends Initiative - Croatia should play a leading role. The members of the Working Group decided that, at their first meeting, scheduled for 9 May, they would consider examples of best practices in the development of national strategies or action plans for the care of people with dementia in Europe and across the world., They also agreed to work very intensively to ensure that the first proposal of the Action Plan could be submitted for public discussion at the beginning of next year. They also welcomed the written support provided by Alzheimer Europe and Alzheimer's Disease International.