The Slovenian Minister of Health, Janez Poklukar (pictured) established a working group for the preparation of a "Dementia Management Strategy 2030" at the end of September this year. Members of the working group are nine experts from: The Ministry of Health; the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities; the University Psychiatric Clinic of Ljubljana; the Neurology Clinic; the National Institute for Public Health; and Spominčica – Alzheimer Slovenia. It also includes some GPs.
The working group is developing the goals and actions of the new Strategy based on the evaluations of the Slovenian Dementia Strategy 2016 – 2020, addressing the needs of persons with dementia and their care partners, addressing the challenges of the "new reality" framed by the COVID-19 pandemic and following the key goals of the WHO Global action plan on the public health response to dementia.
Tasks are divided in specific sub-categories: Establishment and maintenance of the dementia data set; network of programmes and services providers; quality and safety of treatment and post-diagnostic support; education and research; the rights of people with dementia; and management of dementia during epidemics and other crisis situations. The working group will prepare the first draft of the Strategy by the mid-December 2021.