2023 Work Plan

The 2023 Work Plan of Alzheimer Europe was adopted by our Board at its meeting on 5 December 2022.

Click here for the 2022 Work Plan.

Alzheimer Europe Core activities

Objective 1: Providing a voice to people with dementia and their carers

In 2023, Alzheimer Europe will

• involve the European Working Group of People with Dementia (EWGPWD) and European Dementia Carers Working Group (EDCWG) in its activities and organise two face-to-face meetings of each group and a series of virtual meetings and consultations
• involve the EWGPWD and EDCWG in the organisation of the Annual Conference by including representatives in the Programme Committee to help with the selection of abstracts and organise two special symposia on the experience of people affected by dementia on the one hand and of their families and carers on the other
• involve the EWGPWD and EDCWG in various EU projects where AE is asked to provide the views of people with dementia and their carers
• involve the EWGPWD and EDCWG Chairpersons as full voting members at AE Board meetings

Objective 2: Making dementia a European priority

In 2023, Alzheimer Europe will

• carry out an overview of legal issues and access to justice (including supported and shared decision-making systems, cross border protection of vulnerable adults and voting), review their compliance with UNCRPD principles and dedicate its 2023 Dementia in Europe Yearbook to the topic
• grow its European Alzheimer’s Alliance with the aim of gathering the support of 120 Members of the European Parliament from all European countries and involve members of the European Alzheimer’s Alliance in the organisation of three lunch debates in the European Parliament
• start the development of the Dementia Manifesto and the Alzheimer Europe campaign for the upcoming European Parliament elections in 2024
• continue to campaign for the inclusion of dementia as a priority of the European Union’s health and research programmes
• collaborate with the Swedish and Spanish Presidencies and reach out to the Belgian and Hungarian Presidencies of the Council of the European Union in collaboration with national member organisations to address dementia as Presidency priorities
• coordinate the group of European government experts on dementia and organise two meetings of the group bringing together health ministry officials from at least 15 countries with representatives from the European Commission, the OECD and the World Health Organization
• play an active role on the Patients’ and Consumers’ Working Party of the European Medicines Agency
• collaborate, as a member, with the European Patients’ Forum and European Disability Forum and support the development of positions in response to EU policy developments

Objective 3: Changing perceptions and combating stigma

In 2023, Alzheimer Europe will

• continue its collaboration with the European Disability Forum on the European disability strategy and the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD)
• develop a guide for national member organisations to use the UNCRPD reporting system to address dementia in national disability policies
• involve the Board of the European Dementia Ethics Network in AE activities and convene two virtual meetings of the group to identify topics or issues to comment on
• award for the second time a prize for best European initiative addressing the stigma attached to dementia and changing public perceptions ensuring the full involvement and participation of national Alzheimer’s associations
• continue working with the Council of Europe and contribute to ongoing discussions on legal capacity, guardianship systems and bioethics

Objective 4: Raising awareness of brain health and prevention

In 2023, Alzheimer Europe will

• continue to identify phase II and phase III trials on the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia and include them in the Clinical Trials Watch
• update the AE website with information on brain health, risk reduction and dementia prevention
• ensure the views of people at risk of developing dementia are included, when necessary, in European projects

Objective 5: Strengthening the European dementia movement

In 2023, Alzheimer Europe will

• update its member organisations on relevant EU policy developments and involve them in the development of policy positions through AE’s public affairs meetings
• organise its Alzheimer’s Association Academy as a series of online workshops and develop a programme based on the subjects and issues identified by its members
• carry out a survey of national Alzheimer’s associations to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their activities, staffing and finances
• organise quarterly meetings of the AE Board to monitor the association’s financial situation and the implementation of its work plan
• update its networking strategy and develop closer collaboration with European organisations

Objective 6: Supporting dementia research

In 2023, Alzheimer Europe will

• continue with the development of its European Dementia Observatory by proactively identifying relevant research developments and communicating them to its member organisations and wider community
• involve the organisation’s Expert Advisory Panel in commenting on important research developments and in identifying speakers for its Conference and other meetings
• organise a conference in Helsinki, Finland under the motto “New opportunities in dementia care, policy and research” from 16-18 October 2023 with the participation of at least 600 participants from 30 European countries
• improve the collaboration with INTERDEM, the European Alzheimer’s Disease Consortium and the European Academy of Neurology for the organisation of the conference and the selection of topics to be addressed
• evaluate participants’ satisfaction with the conference programme and practical organisation

Other activities and projects

EU Project participation

In 2023, Alzheimer Europe will

• continue to engage with the Innovative Health Initiative, the Joint Programme Neurodegenerative Diseases Research (JPND), Horizon Europe and the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing to identify additional opportunities to participate in EU projects,
• continue its active involvement in a number of EU funded projects by representing the views of people with dementia and their carers in the research consortium, by contributing to the ethical discussions and by supporting the communication and dissemination activities towards a non-scientific audience:
  • ADIS (Early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease by immune profiling of cytotoxic lymphocytes and recording of sleep disturbances)
  • AI-MIND (Intelligent digital tools for screening of brain connectivity and dementia risk estimation in people affected by mild cognitive impairment)
  • eBRAIN-Health (Actionable Multilevel Health Data)
  • EPND (European Platform for Neurodegenerative Diseases)
  • Euro-FINGERS: Multi-modal precision prevention toolbox for dementia in Alzheimer’s disease
  • LETHE (A personalized prediction and intervention model for early detection and reduction of risk factors causing dementia, based on explainable AI and distributed Machine Learning)
  • Multi-MeMo (Shorter- and longer-term mechanisms of multimodal interventions to prevent dementia)
  • Pattern-Cog (Personalised ageing pattern for early risk detection and prevention of cognitive impairment and dementia in cognitively healthy individuals)
  • PRODEMOS (Prevention of Dementia using Mobile phone Applications)
  • PROMINENT (Precision medicine platform in neurodegenerative disease)
  • RADAR-AD (Development and validation of technology enabled, quantitative and sensitive measures of functional decline in people with early stage Alzheimer’s Disease)
  • RECOGNISED (Retinal and cognitive dysfunction in type 2 diabetes: unravelling the common pathways and identification of patients at risk of dementia)
  • VirtualBrainCloud (Personalized Recommendations for Neurodegenerative Disease)
• collaborate as an associate partner or sub-contractor in the following research projects
  • ADAIR
  • CombiDiag
  • DECIDE-SR
  • DISTINCT
  • HomeDem
  • MIRIADE
  • TEF-Health (Testing and Experimentation Facility for Health AI and Robotics)

Corporate Affairs

In 2023, Alzheimer Europe will

• continue including phase II and phase III clinical trials being conducted in Europe on the AE website
• organise quarterly company round tables bringing together the AE Board, representatives of corporate sponsors and AE member organisations to discuss the progress of the organisation’s different corporate projects
• organise an award ceremony for the most successful campaign or initiative to address the stigma attached to dementia and to change public perceptions about dementia
• update the European Dementia Monitor with comparative information and benchmarking of national dementia responses
• publish three editions of the Dementia in Europe magazine (February, June and October)
• organise three lunch debates/workshops in the European Parliament in February, June and December.

Annex 1: Planned meetings in 2023

Budget