At the end of January 2022, the “Lifelong Health” Special Prize was awarded to the Social Cluster Association’s INDA programme, “Living with dementia – complex support for caregiving families”. The "It Speaks to Me!" Health Literacy Award, launched by the Association of Innovative Pharmaceutical Manufacturers (AIPM), was given by a jury of experts in several categories. As a member of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), one of the most important objectives of the AIPM is to ensure access to medical solutions based on modern discoveries for as many Hungarians as possible (www.aipm.hu) Improving the level of health literacy will continue to be a priority for Innovative Pharmaceutical Manufacturers. Dr Péter Holhacker, Director of the AIPM emphasised that authentic and comprehensible communication about health and health risks had recently become even more important due to an increase in often "life-threatening fake news" on social media. For this reason, it was one of the important aspects in this year's evaluation of applications. During the evaluation, in addition to professional content, the jury also awarded the reliable and easy-to-understand communication of scientific facts and arguments to as many people as possible through popular and up-to-date communication platforms.
The Social Cluster Association implemented its INterprofessional Dementia Approach (INDA) programme in Hungary – which is still running and improving. A quarter of a million people in Hungary country are living with dementia, with the vast majority of them living in their own homes. The focus of INDA is not only people with dementia, but also family carers. The Demencia Információs Órák (DIÓ - Dementia Information Classes) is a thematically structured, 12-session interactive programme to expand the knowledge of family members. It has already been realised in six cities across the country. The aim of DIÓ is to support family carers. This support is unique, due to the participation of personal mentors who are available to help participants personally, to deal with individual life situations, during the whole programme.
Information booklets have been created, to address each family member. These show the symptoms of dementia in different ways according to the age of the target audience. Aimed at pre-schoolers, the family booklet promotes acceptance through the story of Uncle Walnut. Winning the award is another opportunity for the Social Cluster Association to highlight dementia publicly and in the media.
