2024 Work Plan

The 2024 Work Plan of Alzheimer Europe was adopted by our Board at its meeting on 4 December 2023.

Click here for the 2023 Work Plan.

Alzheimer Europe Core activities

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

In 2024, Alzheimer Europe will

• involve the European Working Group of People affected by Dementia (EWGPWD) and European Dementia Carers Working Group (EDCWG) in its activities and organise three face-to-face meetings of each group and a series of virtual meetings and consultations
• involve the EWGPWD and EDCWG in the organisation’s European Parliament election campaign and the European Parliament Dementia Day on 10 December where people with dementia, their families and representatives of Alzheimer’s associations will be invited to meet with Members of the European Parliament and the European Commission
• 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 2024, Alzheimer Europe will

• collaborate with its European Union member organisations to campaign for a greater recognition of dementia as a European priority during the European Parliament Election campaign and invite candidates to sign its European Dementia Pledge with the aim of collecting 500 signatures from candidates and 10,000 signatures from individuals
• invite signatories of the European Dementia Pledge to join the European Alzheimer’s Alliance and aim to finish the year with 100 Members of the European Parliament as supporters of the European Alzheimer’s Alliance
• disseminate the findings of the 2023 European Dementia Monitor highlighting the existing inequalities in access to care, treatment and research in European countries
• dedicate its 2024 Dementia in Europe Yearbook to the topic of independent living and monitor and compare national policies to adapt housing to the needs of people with dementia, train family carers and home care professionals and develop specialised supported housing schemes, and identify good practices at national level
• collaborate with the Belgian and Hungarian Presidencies and reach out to the Polish and Danish 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 2024, 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)
• monitor how the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disability includes dementia in its reviews of disability policies in Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands and Sweden and Ukraine
• 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, in collaboration with Alzheimer Europe members, a prize to a European journalist for a successful news story or documentary addressing the stigma attached to dementia and changing public perceptions
• 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 2024, 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
• develop the public involvement pool by including family members of people with dementia and people at risk of developing dementia
• contribute an article to a scientific journal on the views and expectations of Alzheimer’s association on risk disclosure and communication

Objective 5: Strengthening the European dementia movement

In 2024, 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 9 online workshops and develop a programme based on the subjects and issues identified by its members
• organise quarterly meetings of the AE Board to monitor the association’s financial situation and the implementation of its work plan

Objective 6: Supporting dementia research

In 2024, 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 Geneva, Switzerland under the motto “New horizons – Innovating for dementia” from 8-10 October 2024 with the participation of at least 750 participants from 40 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 2024, Alzheimer Europe will

• continue to engage with Horizon Europe, the Innovative Health Initiative and the Joint Programme Neurodegenerative Diseases Research (JPND) to identify opportunities to contribute to and participate in pan-European research projects,
• continue its active involvement in a number of EU funded projects by promoting public involvement activities with 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)
  • AD-RIDDLE (Real world implementation, deployment and validation of early detection tools and lifestyle enhancement)
  • AI-MIND (Intelligent digital tools for screening of brain connectivity and dementia risk estimation in people affected by mild cognitive impairment)
  • AI4Hope (Artificial intelligence cased health, optimism, purpose and endurance in palliative care for dementia)
  • eBRAIN-Health (Actionable Multilevel Health Data)
  • EPND (European Platform for Neurodegenerative Diseases)
  • 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)
  • Pattern-Cog (Personalized aging pattern for early risk detection and prevention of cognitive impairment and dementia in cognitively healthy individuals)
  • PREDICTOM (Prediction of Alzheimer’s disease using an AI driven screening platform)
  • PROMINENT (Precision medicine platform in neurodegenerative disease)
  • RECOGNISED (Retinal and cognitive dysfunction in type 2 diabetes: unravelling the common pathways and identification of patients at risk of dementia)
• collaborate as an associate partner or sub-contractor in the following research projects
  • ABOARD (A personalised medicine approach for Alzheimer’s disease)
  • HomeDem (Co-designing a Home with Dementia)
  • PRIME (Prevention and Remediation of Insulin Multimorbidity in Europe)
  • REBALANCE (Mechanisms of focused ultRasound mEdiated BrAin cLeAniNg Coupled with enhanced mEchanosensation)

Corporate Affairs

In 2024, Alzheimer Europe will

• organise quarterly company round tables bringing together the AE Board, representatives of corporate sponsors and AE member organisations to provide updates on clinical trial developments, on EU and global policy developments and the organisation’s different corporate projects and activities
• continue including phase II and phase III clinical trials being conducted in Europe on the AE website
• 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
• publish three editions of the Dementia in Europe magazine (February, June and October)
• organise a reception in the European Parliament in March and a lunch debate and Dementia Day in the European Parliament in December
• raise awareness of the impact and need of participating in dementia research by carrying out a survey on the experiences of participants in dementia research thanks to a grant by Gates Ventures
• collaborate with EPND and ADDI to identify, collate and highlight data sharing policies, activities and initiatives in Europe and advocating for the development of collaborative research and data infrastructures thanks to a grant by Gates Ventures

2024 Calendar

2024 Budget